Today's walk report: Rain

We've had rain for 9 out of the last 13 days. I think that's right, I had data go off line for a couple of days and it's hurting my head to fill in any gaps but it was at least 9 of 13 days. Today is January 4th and so far for the month I've seen 2.18" delivered and ya know what? I'm kinda tired of it. Nevertheless I have been making an effort to get out and walk everyday. According to "steps" recorded on my phone, I somehow missed Monday, 12/29. In fact, for whatever reason, it looks like I never even picked up my phone on 12/29. Good for me. Also, I don't use the iPhone health app steps data. I don't find it very accurate. I will use it though to help jog my memory. I measure walks on Google Earth. For most walks that's accurate within ±.01 miles (16.09 meters).

Lately, I have been putting quite a bit if faith in The Weather Channel (not a great idea) to provide windows of opportunity for walks, using a combination of local radar and hourly predictions. Right now I'm looking at...

I’m fairly skeptical of the reliability of weather models but so far I haven't gotten dumped on. Late morning today was close. I left under a slight drizzle and got home about 10 minutes ahead of a .02" downpour in the following 10 minutes. I had my camera with me and while I had a couple of plastic bags in my pockets, I really don't look forward to having to bag up my camera and hurrying back to my car.  

December 27th. I went for a decent walk but took very few photos. I'm throwing these in because, why not?

Narcissus papyraceus. Paperwhites symbolize hope, purity, renewal, and new beginnings.

 Caesalpinia cacalaco.

 
January 4th, today. I decided last night that I would make an effort to get out by late morning unless there was an absolute deluge. I used to do this all the time when there was inclement weather. I was up early dealing with the kitties and kept checking the hourly forecast, which kept changing but it looked like I was going to be okay by 10:00. Taking the car to my start off point was, windshield wipers all the way in a heavy drizzle. I was hopeful despite thinking I might be in for something like this...

 That image is only about 40% true. The location is reasonably accurate, the wet is real the rain is not. Other than a Van der Graaf Generator t-shirt, I don't own any of those clothes and I'm reasonably clean shaven. It reminded me to look for my gloves, so there's that. 

As it turned out most of the precipitation I needed to avoid was from errant drips from drooping vines and overhanging branches. 

Lycianthes rantonnetii 'Royal Robe' (Purple Solanum). I have two of these in the front of my house, rather spindly and barely 40" tall. They were among some of the first plants I purchased here over 13 years ago. I think I made a very poor choice for their location on the property. These are coming over a 7' tall wall and by several feet. 

 Duranta erecta. 

 More overhead drips.

 I mentioned the kitties earlier. Lucy (in orange) and Junimoon just before I walked out the door. This closeness is NOT usual. This took a lot of work this morning. Queen Lucy is 19 years and 9 months old today. She can be a little cantankerous. Juni will be one year old in April, she's a kitten. Kittens are crazy.

They were still good almost 2.5 hours later when I got home and joined them.

 The sock has Feliway sprayed on it. That's not an endorsement, I'm still a bit skeptical regarding its effectiveness. The sweatshirt... Lucy spent most of yesterday inside that. Another bit of madness that was, dealing with Juni, curious at every moment about what was moving inside of the gray hoodie.

 PS, if you look back at that chart above, it ended up raining again right about 5:10 and ended at 5:40 PM. I got curious. Ya know, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.