Now that my wrist has healed I’m enjoying getting back on my bicycle. And with great summer riding weather I’m slowing working to build up my mileage. Yesterday dawned gray and cloudy with the promise of sunshine by late morning. A quick check of the doppler radar showed rain to the north, but not a problem. Off we headed, cycling on a route we’ve ridden many times before. As we neared our turn-around point we were confronted with ominous black clouds. We conferred and decided it best to turn around and head back….as quickly as possible. As luck would have it, the dark clouds were soon enveloping us, the wind was gusting from the right, and then from the left, and the rain was starting to come down. We knew of a couple of places we could go for protection and we pulled under the eaves of a maintenance and storage shed just as the rain cut loose. Nearby was a marsh filled with cattails. As they waved back and forth in the wind and rain we stayed huddled under the eaves watching the lightning, listening to the thunder, and watching the storm pass through. Once it seemed that the rain was beginning to let up we decided to get back on our bikes and ride the remainder of the way home. Within a half-mile of the house we found that the pavement was dry and the rain hadn’t made it that far south. Regardless of the weather (or perhaps because of the weather) we set new personal best speeds for our route and were only slightly soaked when we pulled into home.
rain
Looking out through the rain
Our summer has been one of rain, heat, and humidity. This past week I was on my way to the YMCA for yoga class. As luck would have it, it started to rain, or more correctly, it started to pour. The rain came down in buckets. I arrived at the Y, parked my car, and it was still pouring so I decided to sit it out for a while and wait. I sat in my car looking out through the windshield, across the street, to the tree on the other side. Granted, the tree wasn’t anything spectacular, but as I changed my focus from the tree to the windshield I saw something beautiful and fluid. As the rain was pouring down the glass, there was a gorgeous effect on the subjects across the street. They too became fluid and took on a “watercolor” effect. I pulled out my camera and spent the next three minutes photographing this watery scene until the rain stopped, the sun came out, and I walked into my yoga class without getting wet.
lindastaatsphoto.com 