Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Misty Mountains


This morning the sky is clear but it’s not supposed to stay that way for long. I am starting to feel a little sun-starved. Partly, it’s the annual closing in of the leafy canopy above me. Partly, it’s that when it is clear, I’m at work or the clear sky is during hours of low sun angle. Mostly, it’s the rain.

Still, this morning is gloriously clear and cool. The mountains to the east are foggy as last night’s rain now rises out of the forest and up into the atmosphere again.
Except for the near-daily rains, life around the cabin has been quiet this week. No new flowers have appeared that I’ve seen. The birds are still singing, so nesting isn’t yet underway in earnest. Mostly, I can’t see many birds right now, as they are hidden behind layers of leaves.

My evening walks these rainy weeks have been shorter than the ones I typically take. I don’t mind working my way through snow or even ice if I’m wearing the right footgear. I haven’t yet learned to appreciate mud, however, and mud is one thing that is not in short supply right now. Dog and I walk in the woods or along a trail up to the point where the ground turns soggy, then I turn around and head back the way I came. Dog would be happy, of course, to prance through the mud, but I have no intention of spending the next hour of my evening washing mud out of a long-haired Dog after we get home. When I walk with Baby Dog, she flat-out refuses to place her pampered, precious toes into mud, so her walks are shortened, too. I think perhaps she got her fill of rain and mud during Hurricane Katrina. My little hurricane baby simply doesn’t want to deal with any of that again. And so we don't.

5 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

Mud is miserable. In the short time we get mud here, it is the kind that gloms onto your boots so that you end up walking on your arches!

Carolyn H said...

Cicero: for me, mud boots are too slippery for much walking. And I don't want to get my regular boots or shoes muddy because they don't clean up well. So I tend to avoid muddy walks.

Ruth said...

We have had a lot of rain the past couple of weeks and things are muddy. Our dog doesn't mind mud, but he does hate rain storms and thunder. Last year was too dry here, but so far so good this year.

Carolyn H said...

Ruth, I hate to complain too much about the rain. This area had severe drought two years ago, and I don't want that again anytime soon. so far, I'm had rain on 16 days out of 17 and #17 wasn't a sunny day. It hasn't been misty on most of those days either. It's been .5-1" of rain.

Carolyn H.

Anonymous said...

I really love this misty mountain photo. Very pretty.