Photos and text copyright Romping and Rolling in the Rockies 2009-2017.

All photographs and text within this blog are copyrighted.

You may not copy or repost any photos or text without specific permission from the author of this blog. When in doubt, please ask.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Flowers and storm excitement!

The flowers and grass, being fed by daily deluges, are growing tall.

Shyla is so funny - she feels the need to leap over the flowers rather than go around them. I like it because she doesn't trample them!

Despite her wise gray fur, she still has hops! She levitates above the Bee Balm!

And lands with grace.

... finishing with a sprint to me.

You can see that her fur is wet. That's because the grass and flowers were still soaked from the previous evening's rain.

Indeed, it's getting a little old that it rains almost every afternoon and evening. Yesterday, we got a break, and two friends and I did a long singletrack bike ride, exploring old and new trails. It sprinkled on us a few times and a few rumbles emanated from the west. However, it waited until I was home to rain.

Today was different. At the point in my ride where I turned to head toward home, I saw that a big storm was building close to my house. It was almost dark outside as the storm built but the flowers glowed.

I rode as hard as I could but I ended up huddled under the canopy of pine trees with first hail and then a downpour battering me. Since I had nothing else to do while I waited for the "flash-booms" and torrential rain to slow, I rearranged my gear to keep stuff dry. I took a selfie by accident as I did it.

Ah, the glamorous life of a Colorado mountain biker - huddled under small trees for protection from a thunder storm!
I survived. As soon as the storm seemed to let up a bit, I sprinted home. Then I saw the lightning ground strike map for the storm, with hits circling my neck of the woods. It was scary to see.

I'm looking forward to a break from this weather. I wanted rain to reduce our fire danger but not this much rain!

23 comments:

  1. Does thunder bother Shyla? The flowers are definitely benefiting from all that rain!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thunder does not scare Shyla. It's almost unbelievable to me because so many lesser things do scare her! I'll take this blessing!!!

      Delete
  2. Hari OM
    Living in the second wettest part of the Bonny Land, 'tis all too familiar... glad you avoided the 'hit points' and only had to deal with the damp. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Been there/done that :) Nothing like lightening to put pep in your step/stroke...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Must be stormy everywhere. We are having cloudy, stormy weather here in Jackson. It's helping clear out all the smoke, and I really hope it's helping the fires in Idaho causing the smoke.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I got caught in that storm while exploring some forest roads on my bike yesterday. I high-tailed it down the Rainbow Lakes road and hid in the privvy at the Sourdough Trailhead. I was grateful for that outhouse!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hid in an outhouse earlier this year in hail! An outhouse feels like a palace in that situation!

      Delete
  7. Getting soaked isn't fun but the Shyla romps are fun to see!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's been wet from Ft. Collins to Colorado Springs. On the plus side, everything is beautifully green even if it means we get drenched in the process. 😇

    ReplyDelete
  9. She is so graceful and her coloring against the flowers is so pretty.

    I don't like being out with lightning either - very scary. Hope the rain lets up soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We haven't had really rainy days for so long.....sigh

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shyla has harnessed her human's love of nature when she doesn't trample the flowers:) We too have had a lot of rain, so it is good for the water bill and the sprinkler system:)

    Happy weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Being out in a thunder and lightning storm is no fun! Such gorgeous photos of Shyla bounding over the beautiful wildflowers!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love all the color the rain is keeping you in...but hope it lets up for you soon!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. We are having a wetter than normal summer here too. I'm sure it is no fun getting stuck out in the rain.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I hope you carry a light-weight tarp in your backpack for you as well as for the gear. At least that gives you some protection while you are huddled down. Rain I can live with. Hail is bruising. Glad you finally got home safely.

    ReplyDelete
  16. We are having a loud thunderstorm this evening with rain. I know the rain will help the fire fighters but could do without the lightning
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, it's been a weird summer fursure! Though we've only had a few light storms (we usually get maybe one, usually none), the humidity has been a bear! It's all the sub-tropical storms from Mexico, and I see them passing through the Sierras and heading your way. I hope you guys get a break from the rain before Winter comes! Anyhu, Shyla, you look FABulous jumpin' and runnin' in the flowers!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

    ReplyDelete
  18. I always look for hemlock when the sky suddenly gets dark - fortunately there's lot of it in the woods where Piper and I walk. If it's just rain, we stay drier under a hemlock canopy than we would be if we tried to make a run for the parking area...especially since only one of us can actually run. But I've been a lot more worried about lightning since friends told me about one of their sporting dog events, where people and horses were struck by lightning. At least one person was killed.

    ReplyDelete
  19. We love rain...at night when we are sleeping. Be careful with the lightening, it's dangerous!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm a big chicken when it comes to storms, and I won't head out if there's any chance there will be one!

    ReplyDelete

If you are a Blogger registered user, you can skip the step asking you to verify that you are not a spammer. For posts older than 5 days, I have comment moderation turned on.

Thanks for your comments!!!!!