I'm singing in the rain...

...well, almost, out of pure gratitude and joy - even though I had to remind myself that rain was a good thing after coming in from feeding the horses this morning, being soaking wet and covered in mud.

We had plenty of rain over the past week and one can almost hear the gasp of relief amongst the vintners and farmers in Austria.

Growing up in times when it was normal that it was raining - regularly, substantially and mostly at the right times and in the right doses- I am now learning to appreciate how precious a rainy day can be.

Having lived in Ireland for some years where it was basically raining all day every day except for two days in July, I have made friends with rain. Over the past few years, there have been too many situations where I was frantically hoping for it to visit.

Last year was the driest year I can remember. We were in desperate need of precipitation and we only barely made it – with drought damage on some of the younger vineyards. This was bitter enough but probably merely a foretaste of things to come.

Starting with a dry winter followed by a dry spring and an even drier summer will have us face severe problems. This is even more worrying, knowing that other regions in Europe are far worse off than we are here in Austria.

As farmers and vintners, water scarcity, drought and heatwaves affect us more directly and more severely than others but sooner than later, they will affect everybody to an extent that is beyond our imagination.

We will have to come up with a joint plan, a real one - as a society with foresighted and responsible leaders who will not take the easy way out and who refuse to make compromises for the benefits and wealth of some. I wonder how long it takes that the ones in charge realise that parched soils cannot feed our world.