Rainbow.
Up early. Remnant clouds to start with, but the sun soon poked through, and things dried up soon enough. Cold, though—maybe upper-40s (F). Took Jack out and heard the resident cardinal and some chickadees.
Beech Nut.
At work, I got in The Zone right away. Type design will do that to you, lure you in, keep your attention, pique your perfectionist’s instincts. Polished off a 700-plus character set by day’s end, at which point dog and I were both ready for a hike. I figured we’d go a little early, take care of some errands, and then afterward I’d mow my overgrown lawn.
Rockland isn’t a fun place to drive these days, what with the major Main Street sewer project. The detour is causing all kinds of traffic jams. But we missed most of the congestion, hit the post office, grabbed a few things at the grocery store, headed to Beech Hill.
Right away, I had to admire the suddenly dramatic sky: great mounds of white clouds with wispy underbellies moving over from the west. By the time we headed up the trail, the wind had suddenly whipped up to the point that all I could hear was its rush through the leaves and the grasses. None of the usual bush birds, just the wind-whipped voices of crows. About half-way up, the clouds had sped up beyond Beech Nut to the north and spread out over the bay. The sun still shone, but clearly precipitation was falling in places. In fact, by the time we reached the summit, a bright rainbow suddenly appeared to the east, and as we circled the hut, a great dark cloud had obscured half the western sky.
Descending.
We hadn’t descended very far when the rain came. Hard-falling, wind-powered rain—though, thankfully, not a heavy soaker. Still, we began to jog down the slope. Jack liked the increased pace, whereas I’d been concerned about my camera getting wet. The full circuit took us only about a half-hour.
No problem, though—just exciting. I hadn’t experienced sudden weather like that in several years, at least. A quick, fast squall. It rained harder on our trip home, but by the time we pulled into the parking lot, the rain had stopped altogether. However, the little weather event had spoiled my plan to mow. Maybe tomorrow.
Tonight is clear as a bell. The half-moon is setting behind the oaks. It’s kind of a cold one. But I heard a radio forecast predicting that temperatures might even reach the 80s this weekend.
Fall is wild and crazy sometimes. My favorite season.
Beech Hill List
Beginning at 4:45 p.m., I hiked the open trail.
1. American crow
Elsewhere
2. Northern cardinal
3. Black-capped chickadee
4. Herring gull
Tags: American crow, black-capped chickadee, herring gull, northern cardinal
