Rainy Day Blues

RaindDay

Monday, Sylvia sealed the smaller deck at the end of the house.  The forecast was looking good for another nice day on Tuesday.

Sylvia cancelled her customary visit with her dad on Tuesday.  She started sealing the front (larger deck).  I had tightened up nails on Monday and was keeping an eye on the weather and the weather radar loop.  There was rain, but it was all north of us.  Then another front appeared on the radar.  It looked like it might slip just south of us.

It didn’t.  Sylvia was not a happy camper.  The rain continued, heavy at times, that evening and overnight.  We’re hoping for some warm weather after the front deck gets dry again.

Dramatic Sky

On Saturday, I went out to check the garden.  The peas were ready for picking.  Everything else was looking good.  That’s when I realized that there was something different about the light.  A glance at the sky sent me back to the house to fetch the camera.

Here’s what I had seen:

We don't often see shelf clouds like this

We don’t often see shelf clouds like this

On the front deck I capture more images.

This looked ominous

This looked ominous

Peas can wait.  I’m taking pictures.

The front kept moving toward me

The front kept moving toward me

A couple of seconds later, I could see an interesting boundary passing over head.

Does it make you feel uncomfortable?

Does it make you feel uncomfortable?

There would be no more images of interest in this system.  I turned and walked back in the house.

Shortly after the door closed the rain began.  Heavy rain.  Very heavy rain.

Zucchini and butternut squash are not appreciating all this rain.  I don’t like to see their yellow leaves.  However, it was fun to watch this front approaching.

Yes!

Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for.

150411b

The bee was enjoying the day as much as I was.

150411a

And what a beautiful day it was . . . and is.

The frost has gone out of our [dirt] road.  The result is holes big enough to bury medium-sized critters.  Nobody speeds along our road these days.

I went out this morning in the rain.  I had to drive on the paved road just a mile from here.  The travels lanes, have sunk over time so that today rain will fill the depressions, creating miles-long puddles–four of them all parallel.  That’s not problem out here in the country where we just drive with two tires on the center line in such conditions.

Snippets

Rainy Day

Too much of that rainy weather lately.  🙁  More on the way.  🙁 🙁  Yuck!  I don’t mind the rain.  The earth needs it, but I don’t need the arthritis pain that tends to ride in on the rain.

I go back to the orthopedic clinic tomorrow morning.  I’m taking Sylvia with me this time to help ask questions.  Only after I had returned home from my first visit did the important questions begin to enter my mind.  In the last two weeks, I’ve been using an anti-inflammatory topical gel on the right hand and wrist, which have been so problematic.  The good news is that the gel has brought significant relief–even to the point that I’m able to spend more than a few minutes at a time here at the computer. 🙂

Just a quarter mile north of here, a pair of swans have established a nest on the edge of a natural pond.  I’m sure they appreciate this rain.  At least, I imagine that they do.

A short way from the pond (closer to us), the buzzards appear to have gone back to nest in the old hollow oak tree.  I love to watch the adults patrol the area as the glide by on silent, but powerful, wings.

Last Friday evening, there was some clear sky and I was able to continue my experiments with capturing images of the night sky.  I was pleased with the results, some of which I’ll share with you tomorrow.  As I shot pictures beneath a crescent moon, I could hear the neighborhood dogs and coyotes having a conversation.  It was interesting and enjoyable.  I’ll be doing that again.

Raining

It’s raining in my world today,
The reason why I can not say.
The sky is covered o’er with clouds,
Like gray curtains or funeral shrouds.

Though it seems dark, there’s light this day,
The sun unseen, still lights our way,
The grass so green, and flowers bright,
Cries this is day, it is not night.

The ditch runs full, its water sends,
Beside the road, around the bends,
And soon it’s gone, and just a dream,
The sun returns, and heavens beam.

It’s raining in my world today,
The reason why, I can not say,
But God has spoke, so let it be,
His will is good enough for me.

Spring Comes Early?


Late last week, it seemed as though spring had come early to west Michigan. We had a couple of days of warmer temperatures and with it came very heavy rain. We even had a thunderstorm. As I sat in my recliner listening to the rain on the roof and the thunder crashes, I wrote this haiku in my notebook:

Thunderstorm

See the startling flash,
Feel the heart stopping thunder,
In the raging rain.

Spring is coming and it’s not very far away.