Hello Gentle Reader -
If I do say so myself, I took some quite beautiful pictures of the fauna at Jay this AM (q.v.). It has been too long since I have been up and out for an early morning walk on the summer slopes, but I managed today and had my camera in tow. It has been raining off and an all week. The mountain was wet. As I dodged mud puddles and slogged through six-inch high wet grass I was reminded of a book I read some years ago by a Vietnamese woman. She said the Vietnamese word for country could be translated as"land-and-water mixed". This would, I suppose, make particular sense in Vietnam where rice is grown. It also makes sense here, especially lately, even without the rice paddies. My old hiking boots were soaked through after 20 minutes. Good socks are key. (Hence, "Woolfoot").
In an uncharastic bit of daring, near the end of my walk I came to a very small tributary of the Jay Brook that was rushing over its little banks. A bathtub sized pool had formed at the base of some rocks and, yes, I stripped and jumped in. (Understand that it was 7:30 on saturday monring and I hadn't seen a soul in those woods...) It was as great as it sounds. I felt very refreshed and like I must have been really clean. When I got home and took a hot bath (later), I found, however, that I had collected a fair bit of silt.
Tomorrow our friends from England are coming to the last house for lunch. More rain is predicted. Monday, the kids are headed to day camp. They really need to get out of the house and away from this computer!
