Rain, Rain... Go Away
For the last two weeks, a rare Ghost Orchid has been in bloom at a nature preserve near here. It's about an hour drive from our house. We didn't make it to see the orchid last year, and it's starting to look like we might not get to see it this year, either.
My back is getting much better-- but seeing the orchid requires a two-mile hike. And let's face it... walking has never really been my strong suit. Last weekend, my back was still way too sore to try to handle a hike like that. "Next weekend," we kept saying. The orchid is expected to bloom for about 21 days total.
This weekend, my back feels pretty good. So, Cory and I said we'd go today. See, yesterday, one of his co-workers had a party and he wanted to drop by. Of course, it was one of those middle-of-the-day parties that just kind of messes with your whole schedule for the day.
As it turns out, I ended up doing a TV interview for work. And Cory ended up going to the party by himself. At 6:00 pm. So, we'd scheduled our entire day around an event that we didn't even both go to-- and we could have gone down to see the orchid that morning after all. Assuming we'd woken up early enough.
See, one thing we learned quickly about living here. If you want to do anything outdoors in the summer, you'd better plan to be over and done with it by about 3:15 in the afternoon, because that's when the thunderstorms start rolling in. It can be sunny and beautiful one minute, and rain cats and dogs the next. By the same token, it can be pouring at our house, but dry as a bone at the grocery store half a mile away. It's a crapshoot. But usually, it's raining wherever you want to be.
SO today, we got up early. It was overcast out-- but not miserable. By the time we got ready, found our binoculars and bugspray, and were out the door, it was about 10:30. Plenty of time.
Except it was sprinkling. And as we drove, the rain fell harder, and harder, and harder. We forged on, knowing that rain in our neck of the woods doesn't mean that there'd be a cloud in the sky at Corkscrew Swamp. But as we got closer, the clouds were thick and angry looking, and a steady rain continued to fall.
So, we turned around and went home.
As it turns out, had we waited until the afternoon, we'd have been fine. By about 2:30, the skies were still a dull gray, but no rain. Doesn't it just figure?
My back is getting much better-- but seeing the orchid requires a two-mile hike. And let's face it... walking has never really been my strong suit. Last weekend, my back was still way too sore to try to handle a hike like that. "Next weekend," we kept saying. The orchid is expected to bloom for about 21 days total.
This weekend, my back feels pretty good. So, Cory and I said we'd go today. See, yesterday, one of his co-workers had a party and he wanted to drop by. Of course, it was one of those middle-of-the-day parties that just kind of messes with your whole schedule for the day.
As it turns out, I ended up doing a TV interview for work. And Cory ended up going to the party by himself. At 6:00 pm. So, we'd scheduled our entire day around an event that we didn't even both go to-- and we could have gone down to see the orchid that morning after all. Assuming we'd woken up early enough.
See, one thing we learned quickly about living here. If you want to do anything outdoors in the summer, you'd better plan to be over and done with it by about 3:15 in the afternoon, because that's when the thunderstorms start rolling in. It can be sunny and beautiful one minute, and rain cats and dogs the next. By the same token, it can be pouring at our house, but dry as a bone at the grocery store half a mile away. It's a crapshoot. But usually, it's raining wherever you want to be.
SO today, we got up early. It was overcast out-- but not miserable. By the time we got ready, found our binoculars and bugspray, and were out the door, it was about 10:30. Plenty of time.
Except it was sprinkling. And as we drove, the rain fell harder, and harder, and harder. We forged on, knowing that rain in our neck of the woods doesn't mean that there'd be a cloud in the sky at Corkscrew Swamp. But as we got closer, the clouds were thick and angry looking, and a steady rain continued to fall.
So, we turned around and went home.
As it turns out, had we waited until the afternoon, we'd have been fine. By about 2:30, the skies were still a dull gray, but no rain. Doesn't it just figure?
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