....And Speaking Of Oddness

The sun was out this morning. I almost forgot what it looked like. It has been dreary and rainy for most of the last couple weeks. Yesterday, after lunch and a bit of shopping with a friend, I decided to go on another hike.

It has rained so much (again) that the cornfield behind my house is now a lake (again). I might be kayaking on it with one of my buddies today if it stays sunny. The water is raging over the dam below my house. When you're standing on the bridge right over it, it sounds like a hundred freight trains.

Another very wet, rainy hike up to cat-hole (proper name: Green Mountain). What does a normal, sane person do on a day like this?

The trail looks nicer during the daylight. There were a lot of pictures I wish I could have gotten, but the rain was sporadic and there were times that I didn't dare to take my camera out from the safety of the plastic bag it was in. Many parts of the trail had become a shallow river. I slipped and fell butt-first into the mud within the first hundred yards of trail and I gave up on keeping my feet dry about 10 minutes into the woods; calf-deep water in some places. There were signs on the upper part of the trail that indicated a "warming hut" up the trail. I'm thinking GREAT, I can rest and snack for a few minutes before continuing.

Ummm... this would be the warming hut. Anyone on the market for a fixer-upper?

Any port in a storm. While sitting just inside the remaining un-rotted corner of the building, there were a couple of Eastern Phoebes who kept fluttering around me and keeping a strangely close proximity, chirping loudly (but never holding still long enough for me to take a picture). I looked at arm's length just to my left and found out why they were acting so strangely around me...

Well, I had to break off the hike about 1/4 mile from the summit because it was getting windy, I was soaked to the bone, and there were low-hanging clouds which afforded a maximum of 30 feet visibility. The views will have to wait until the next hike (possibly today).
Wish me luck :)