Rain, Rain Went Away

But, For How Long? 

It has rained here for days. After and extremely dry spring, summer seems to have come in with the missing April showers. Included have been some thunderstorms and downpours.

I didn't swim last weekend, first because it was too chilly, and finally because when it did warm up on Sunday, thunderstorms kept passing through. I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure the pool was closed.

I did substitute on Tuesday, so I swam after school in the indoor pool, but I was even concerned that day that they might close down. There was some pretty heavy cloud cover and if a thunderstorm broke out, they would close the indoor pool too. All the filtering equipment for the water is outside and if it were struck by lightning, it would charge the pool water inside. But my luck held out, and I got in a good forty minute or so of swimming and walking in the water to exercise my knees.

I still have not ridden the Boys. My knees are a bit sore, stiff, and swollen, especially after exercise. Not that it's an excuse, but it certainly doesn't make me feel much like riding.

So, the Boys have been just kind of hanging out. I took a couple pictures in the rain, so the blur is the raindrops on the lens. But what you can see is the typical situation. Toby takes up most of one end of the run in shed roof, Tucker stays dry at the other, and Chance hangs out on the periphery, with his head inside and the rest of him out in the rain. Clearly, there is room for everyone under the roof, but apparently, that would "break the rules" of the herd hierarchy.

I was outside because there was a rainbow.  Once again, my photographic artistry is limited, not only by the rain, but also because the rainbow was not very bright.  I've photoshopped the pictures a bit trying to bring out the color, but I have a feeling the limits of my skill at using the camera also limited the ability to brighten things up.

I do fear the pots of gold at the end of this rainbow seemed to have been stored in the two huge warehouses resting at either end.  It was kind of sad to see nature's beauty flanked by all the industrial construction that's taken over the once pristine farmland on my eastern horizon.

The untouched photo below shows a bit of that.  You can just see the white warehouse, the high tension electrical power lines, and some other development beyond. Fortunately, the farmland between that area and my property is preserved land.

Hope to get back in the saddle this week. I need the exercise and the Boys need some diversion.