A Monday meander

Along the way.  (On a bike ride this morning.)

But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.

~ Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat

 

Clouds from Hermine.

Peace begins
When expectation ends.

~ Sri Chinmoy, Perfection and Transcendence

Looking out at the pond yesterday afternoon.

Hermine has passed by the Eastern Shore although her effects are still being felt on some of the beaches.  Here on the bay side, it wasn’t bad and didn’t meet the expectations and forecasts of the weather prognosticators.  We had some rain (about 3/4 of an inch total, and we could have used more since August was so dry), some blustery winds, and a lot of clouds.  The sunsets were spectacular, but you’ll have to take my word for it because I didn’t get out to take pictures until yesterday and although yesterday’s sunset was lovely, it lacked the drama of the sunsets of the two previous days when Hermine was being felt in our area.  We are still under a coastal flood advisory due to the wind.  For us that means flooding of the marshes and the woods, and fish swimming on the woodland trails.  Lots of fish, in fact.  I don’t know if the fish are spawning (seems late in the year for it, but what do I know about fish spawning?) or if the wind is pushing them into the creeks and rivers which in turn drives them to the flooded areas.  I’ve even seen a few good sized crabs floating by in the creek.

Looking out over the marsh yesterday.

I know from following the news that Hermine was much worse when she roared ashore in Florida, and caused quite a bit of damage in the Carolinas.  I’m grateful that we were spared the tropical storm force winds.  The beaches to the east may not have fared as well, but there hasn’t been much on the news about it in the last 24 hours so I’m guessing that things were not as bad as predicted for them, either.  I am sorry for all those folks who flocked here for the Labor Day weekend.  Rip tides are said to be bad so swimming is not an option.

The flooding in the marshes and woods brings the deer out where we can see them.

M and I have not gone to check out the beaches or the ocean.  Pictures show it to look a little like a washing machine effect, churning and foaming around with the waves moving in random directions.

More clouds. (Sunday)

M and I were sick on Saturday.  I’m not sure why or what the cause was, but M jokingly said it must be the change in the barometric pressure.  It’s possible he was right, but it’s also possible that one of us picked up a virus somewhere and it passed quickly since we’re both feeling much better today.  I’m still a little tired, the way you are when you recover from an illness.

Saturday morning when it was rainy and windy.

This morning started out lovely, but it’s since clouded up.  We went out for a bike ride (9.5 miles) and got quite a good workout with the wind resistance.  I also had a bit of a scare when a truck roared by too fast and too close for comfort.  Some folks don’t like to share the road with bicyclists and/or pedestrians, and show it by trying to frighten us off the road.

Some of the many Trump signs to be seen around here.

We live in Trump country and after the pick-up truck driver had his little bit of fun pretending he was going to run me off the road, I wondered if there is a correlation between the two.  I’m not saying there is.  I’m just wondering.

Grasses and wildflowers on a windy morning.

Moving on to something a little more pleasant, on our bike ride this morning M and I took a route that passes by a grassy and marshy area where there are all kinds of wildflowers blooming.  The area runs alongside one of the local creeks.  It was so beautiful, and I was unable to capture a good representation of the big picture with the camera.  The truly amazing thing were the number of Monarch butterflies flitting and flying around amongst the flowers.

A Monarch in the wildflowers.

Most were too far away for me to capture them well, but the one above was kind enough to let me capture it before dancing off to join the others.  It should also be noted that I don’t take the big camera with me on bicycle rides.  Lately I’ve been relying on my cell phone camera, but this morning, knowing we’d be riding by the wildflowers, I took the old Kodak with me.

A nanosecond of stillness. (Most of the photos I took of these pink flowers are blurry due to the wind which is still blustering and gusting about today.)

I think that’s about it for today’s meander around the area.  Thank you for stopping by and meandering along with me.  If the effects of Hermine are headed your way, stay safe.

An attempt to capture a lot of the flowers in one shot.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Looking out over the creek.

Today’s joys:  A lovely, long bike ride; standing on a bridge and watching the fish swim by; the beauty of the wildflowers growing near the creek; the courtesy and friendliness of some drivers who move over and wave as they go by when I’m out on my bike; the energy of the wind.

Yesterday’s sunset which was beautiful but not nearly as stunning as the sunsets on Friday and Saturday.