Well our NWS had another successful forecast for our area as significant rains arrived as predicted.  With 1.56" of rain recorded at my station last Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, soil conditions returned to near normal.  Local waterways came up somewhat and are currently returning to normal with waterways further west still on the high side due to heavier rains there.  Presently the U.S. Drought Monitor has expanded our moderate drought area.  Their data is collected on Tuesdays, so hopefully our rain event will show up as an improvement on next weeks drought map.  Area lawns look about as good as ever.  Trees and shrubberies are growing surprisingly fast.  Maybe due to all the extra CO2 in the air?  Luckily, soil evaporation has been somewhat reduced as hotter temperatures and strong sunlight have been tempered by smokey skies from the Canadian wildfires.  I've seen a few deer tracks in my garden lately but so far no damage.  And I did see a couple of very large birds soaring way up there, much higher than the usual vultures.  I figured that they must be eagles but even with binoculars I could not see any telltale white markings.  So, not sure what they were, possibly immature eagles but as ever nature has its mysteries.