Second verse, same as the first

I’d thought of making today’s post a Wordless Wednesday, since the headline says it all, but I guess I’m chattier than that. Rain continues here at Roundtop and will continue through around Saturday. Even a gentle rain can cause flooding if it lasts for a week, and that’s about the point we’re reached here on the mountain.

The area needed rain. The gentle rain was much needed and appreciated. But now I feel like shouting, "enough, already!" In the space of a few days, the woods has gone from a tinderbox to a rain forest. The air is so moist that even I can identify the animals floating around the cabin by their smells.

The skunk, of course, is an easy one. But the soupy, moist air also holds the scent of the fox, the raccoons and deer. The dogs, whose noses are far superior to mine, can scent without touching nose to track. They walk with noses in the air, excited and misbehaving with the mix of scents that must be overwhelming to them. To me, with a human’s notoriously weak sense of smell, the air makes scenting the different species possible. I can now tell what’s been around, but I’ll never be able to trail by scent the way the dogs can.

That said, it’s still an interesting experience to notice so many smells when that’s not usually possible to do. Even though I can’t trail by scent, I do notice when a scent grows more or less intense, at least in a general way, as we walk along the lane. I guess this is as close as I will ever get to understanding how a dog trails. It’s not very close, I’m sure, but it’s certainly closer than usual. I think I’d prefer a little sunshine, though.

Today's photo was taken off the mountain but looking up towards one bump of it. This morning I am living in that mist, which is even thicker up where I am.