Rainbow Racing and Such

I had just returned from an abbreviated evening walk.  It was after dinner; Bill had gone to a meeting; dogs were drying off in the garage, so I took off down the road.

An instant or so later, the first thunder boomer rumbled in the western sky.  I hadn't seen any lightning, so I just kept walking and turned on to Selle Road.  

By that time, the boomers were getting closer together, and another rain shower had started.

So, I turned around, walked briskly home, put my camera in the car and decided to sit out the shower in our travel trailer, which is parked in the driveway. 

Shortly after plopping down at the table, I looked out the window to see the scene above, chewed up fences and all.  

Instant sunshine appearing through the remainder of the rain shower was doing a major "accentuate the negative" on that board fence, which also needs a major paint job. 

Still, the scene looked pretty neat.  

So, I ran to the car, grabbed my camera and started racing around the yard, snapping various shots of that developing rainbow in the eastern sky. 

Shortly after it reached its ultimate display, a second rainbow appeared. 

I see on Facebook this morning that a lot of folks must have been engaged in exactly the same activity with their cameras.  

Some beautiful shots were posted from all around the Selle Valley.  

I guess this is another Mother Nature handout to assuage our emotions as we wait out the daily downpours.  Truly a beautiful way to cap off another wet, wet day. 

Thanks, Mother Nature.  And, I'll thank you in advance for a few hours of sunshine, promised to us today.  We'll never turn away your handouts, especially because of your stinginess over the past several months. 

On another note, there is more to life than bad weather.  

I had a good time with the doggies on their trips to the field yesterday. I also managed to complete a few small projects in spite of the rain and thanks to Foster. 

A new strategy for keeping dogs engaged and within sight while doing projects has emerged.  

If Foster has the ball, he does not give it up.  Big Boy Liam is scared spitless of any growl or dirty look coming from little Foster.

So, Liam leaves Foster alone, as does Kiwi.  Kiwi basically keeps her Border Collie eye focused at all times, should Foster decide to drop the ball.

In the meantime, Liam keeps a continuous circling pattern going wherever Foster happens to be going.  

Through all this Foster proudly keeps his jaws clamped on that ball, only letting go when I demand that he "drop the ball."  Yesterday I decided to put demands aside because I have discovered that working on projects when Liam has the ball will get me nowhere. 

If I'm pulling weeds, the ball is dropped in the middle of the weeds.  If those weeds happen to be in a planter which stands three feet off the ground, both the ball and Liam are IN the planter. 

If I drag an 80-pound bale of hay from the shed to the barn via the sled, the ball is sitting precisely where I want to unload the bale. 

If I'm raking up leaves, I often rake up the ball and maybe even occasionally part of Liam's nose. 

SO, yesterday's routine worked out perfectly.  My only challenge was to keep reminding Foster to stay near where I was working.  Just feet away from me, the mass of black-and-white kept moving round and round and round but not in the middle of my work!

It was lovely!  I finished my projects.  Dogs stayed within my sight, and nobody snarled, including me!

I'll see how this strategy works in the future, and, maybe just maybe, the stress level of being outside with doggies while doing something other than walking around and throwing balls will diminish. 

Today's sunny day should provide the perfect test cuz I'm more than ready to get some bigger outdoor projects completed.

One final note.  We always enjoy the perks of Annie's job and her connections with people in the geocaching world.  In fact, over Memorial Day we're planning to do a little hosting of a group which includes one of her colleagues.  We're very much looking forward to that. 

A few weeks ago Annie also told me about one of her geocaching friends from Ireland who publishes a blog.  She calls herself The Geocaching Junkie.  The blog incorporates places where she travels along with the geocaching opportunities available.  Her photography is exquisite. 

This morning I found a particularly fascinating post called "A Grand Day out at Chatsworth House.  I thought anyone, even if they're not a geocacher would enjoy this very informative post.  

So, I'll leave you with the link.  https://thegeocachingjunkie.com/2017/04/18/a-grand-day-out-at-chatsworth-house/

Enjoy, and Happy Wednesday.