Rain Barrel Blues

I don’t have the blues about my rain barrel, it’s my rain barrel that has the blues. It’s new, installed last week by Pete Weast, an Enright Avenue resident and ardent blues fan. He donated this spiffy rain barrel, painted with “Cincy Blues Fest,” to the Cincy Blues Fest last month for a raffle. No, I didn’t win it. And I was running the raffle. But I swear there was no funny business—the winner of the raffle was the brother of a friend of mine, and he was just down from Cleveland, where he lives, to help at the Fest. So he offered it to me via my friend, and now we have a rain barrel in our side yard. I’ve already collected enough rain water to water the parsley and oregano and basil, and what do you know, the herbs—especially the basil—are thriving. Yeah! More basil!