Happy Holidays

 It is a long dry wait for the first rain of the season, so when the possibility of a few drops presented itself I was determined to not let the opportunity pass by, even if the opportunity would come during simple laps around the spreading grounds. On the other hand...

one good thing about the spreading grounds - it is a big open space with views in every direction. On the first lap I watched clouds tumble and swirl, spin and roil across the sky. On the second lap I watched a sheer veil on the other side of the valley. The third lap brought the clouds down upon the shoulders of Old Baldy and, as I got closer to the top of the loop, brought the first drops down upon my own forward sloping shoulders. Those drops continued into the fourth lap and I stopped, walked off trail, and into the chaparral to listen to it patter down upon dry earth and parched leaves. I like that sound; and it is completely different than the sound we normally hear when the rain falls in the city and town, a din on roofs and cars, plastic and pavement. The fourth lap also saw the clouds part around the high peaks allowing the highest of them all to show off a fresh dusting of powder.

roiling across the valley

a light in the east

coming down on the peaks

boiling up north

bike and yucca

dusting

rocky crossing

bike and yucca ii

From myself, Claremont Cyclist and the CLR Effect I wish everyone Happy Holidays. I've got some hiking and biking planned for the next week and a half, to end the old, and begin the new year. Keep healthy, happy and enjoy the Season.

ugh, I tried to get that little bit of sun right at the tip, but my eye and the camera eye were, apparently, seeing things at different angles