Rain
"Hey Daddy..."
"Yea Baby-girl..."
"Are we gonna have enough water for our farm? I heard the state has declared a drought. We haven't had rain this whole year."
Ken stretched his head back with his eyes closed. When he looked back at Hana, Hana thought her father never looked so old or tired; yet, he mustered that quirky smile and told her, "You know your daddy always takes care of you. Don't worry about the farm, everything is gonna be O.K." He grabbed his cola and swung open the screen door and yawned out, "I'm just going to get a few ZZZs," as he left the porch and dragged himself inside. Hana wanted desperately to help her papa, but she just didn't know how.
Suddenly she saw the tell tale signs of a migraine coming on. She could see the zig-zag pattern of translucent lights as she peered up at the afternoon sky from her porch swing. She hoped it would go by quickly. At least she finished her chores, but she still had homework to do. Suddenly she began to see black dots in her field of view. This never happened before. In fact, these black dots appeared to be little creatures of some kind. They didn't look like any insect she'd seen here before. They actually looked like beans.
She felt like screaming, but knew her dad was dead tired and she didn't want to wake him. She just closed her eyes, hoping they would just go away. Then, she felt these small creatures flicking her face.
"Hana, Hana we need your help," cried small voices.
" What?" she asked bewildered.
"If you want to help your dad, we can help," said Hydro-BeaN.
"What are you?" Hana asked
"We're Bio BeaNs and we come from a different earthly dimension. We have found a way to enter the space between our worlds and repair both. But we need your help because your world is so much bigger than ours and you're much more powerful.
"I'm not powerful." Hana shyly admitted.
"Hana, you're more powerful than you know," Hydro-BeaN acknowledged.
Hana was scared, but she knew she had to do something to help her dad. "O.K., I'll help," Hana agreed. Just then the BeaNs jumped into her ear and she went up in a windy vortex. She slid between a glowing sheet and suddenly lost balance. "Whoa!" she yelled.
"Hana, you have to gather rain by riding the wind and harnessing the clouds. Pretend the wind is your horse. Ride the wind Hana, ride like you do in jumping competitions. I'll show you where you have to go to harness the clouds that will bring rain to your farm. Just close your eyes and think of the North Pole, then you'll be there. Just when she thought of it, information about North pole, the hydrologic cycle (water cycle) and the global winds transported into her brain and she saw and felt the route she must take. She was learning so much information, but her strong body already knew how to ride the wind. She rode with precision and knew exactly where she was and what she needed to do. This skill and new information made her feel powerful and this gave her confidence to try because she could make a difference.
Hana grabbed onto the wind and rode the polar Easterlies, jumped over to the Westerlies and tamed the trade winds. She then brought up the clouds and herded them together. She went over rivers and streams and collected evaporating moisture. She went to the oceans, but steered clear of the surface runoff. Something told her that the runoff here was contaminated and she didn't want any pollution or acid rain to fall on the crops. Then she went over forests and gathered more water vapor through transpiration from the plant leaves. Condensation of the water vapor created huge nimbostratus clouds which were getting heavier and dark as the yellowing sky turned gray.
The whole water cycle was spinning in her brain and just as she reached the central valley, it took all her strength to hold onto the rain until they reached Peach Hill Farm. She wanted to soak the land but not flood it. Flooding would cause erosion and degradation to the land, so she had to set her mind to controlling the amount of rain. She saw her farm up ahead, so she visualized light precipitation and it began to sprinkle. The winds picked up and she held tight. For a moment she thought she lost control, but her arms were strong and her body shifted to keep the wind on track and the rain pouring at a steady even pace. She pushed the clouds throughout the valley. Everything was beautiful and glistening. She was happy, yet something continued to bother her.
She still had unanswered questions floating in her mind. If there's a limited amount of water on the planet and I move it where I want it, isn't there some places that won't get enough water? If we contaminate more of our planet, how will we get nature to renew the air and water? What if I can't control the clouds and it moves over the ocean to precipitate, creating more salt water but not enough fresh water? Will I even get the chance to ride the clouds again?
For now the farm was saved. Hana rode the wind a few more times and brought enough rain to refill the ground water supply. She saved the farm this time, but Hana knew she would have to continue learning all she could to help not only her father, but her world. Her passion was to figure out how to conserve water and she yearned to become a hydrologist. Geology, mathematics and computer science took on new meaning for her and studying became important in reaching her goals. Hana was worried about the future, but there was hope in her heart.
Imagine...
1. how does it feel to ride the wind
2. being a drop of water falling from the sky and your trip through the water cycle
3. that you are Hana, what do you see as you flow through the global winds?
4. solutions to the water shortage at Peach Tree Farm
BeaNspiration: My life fits a pattern and I now know what I'm supposed to do!
*hydro is a prefix that means water!
**Look up underlined words and do R & D (research & development) on any topic that interests you.
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