It's raining, it's pouring...

The old man was snoring, but I made him get up and walk with me...the old dogs (one at least) were challenging. [As she has aged, Paddy has become more fretful. She seems to have OCD type issues. It is sad because she cannot tell us what is wrong. She behaves weirdly - she is a much different dog/has a different personality than in her earlier years. And we are trying to see how we can best care for her.]

We have been in and out of the house the past couple of days. We have taken only short walks... just before the thunder and rain* or between waves of storms. This almost dry morning gave us the chance for a long walk to the park.

We were the only ones out at first. Newspapers waited to be gathered into the houses. No cats wandered (cats don't seem to enjoy wet paws). Few dog were out in their yards. The trees dripped as we passed under them.

"Look at all the worms," commented DH. "What worms?" asked I. And then I saw them. Enormous earthworms** were all over the park road and in the gutters. Most were motionless, but one seemed to be making the effort to get out of his puddle. I picked him up and moved him to the edge of the grass and I wondered about this wormy reaction to the drenching rains of the past two days. And I thought about all the fishermen and fisher-women who would love to gather these beauties (all a foot long or longer) and head to the river or lake. [When I stopped to check on the worms about an hour after the walk, most had disappeared. It lends credence to the article cited below.]

Not sure what this guy is doing...

This one is trying to squeeze into the crack in the curb...

We stopped at the drainage ditch for a drink and watched the water flowing in the creek.

Our intermittent stream flows out of the woods, across a corner of the park, and on to a spot where it meets the river.

One can never have enough waterfalls...even tiny ones.

This spot always looks so mysterious. I plan to hike down the dry creek bed later in the summer.

A few branches caught up under the bridge.

Water rippled as it flowed...the wind hits it here.

You can see the high water mark in the grass. This stream was really flowing during the heavy rains of last night.

 As we walked towards home we greeted children arriving at the bus stops for the later-running school bus.

NOTES:

*We have had well over 3 inches of rain and loads of thunder. I promised to walk only a short minute last evening. DH started to worry when he heard thunder and I was not home. One block from the house I saw his car turn our corner - dear one heading out to rescue me.

**http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-earthworms-surface-after-rain/