What a glorious wake-up this morning, after a few days of intermittent spitting and drizzling rain interspersed with a couple of good downpours, to see that the skies were an intense blue and virtually cloudless, and the air crystal clear and sparkling, with no sign of any haze or mist.
Early morning in July on La Ropa
I headed out the door for my La Ropa walk. Yesterday at this time the rain was coming down and the wind was gusting a little as small bands of the latest tropical depression moved away from us offshore. Today there was a different scene and a whole other flavor. It was Friday, and another weekend of the summer holiday season was kicking in.
A rainy season mushroom
Those who’d arrived early in the week to disappointing cloudy skies and lack of direct sun would surely feel vindicated today. Already there were several people on the beach taking their morning constitutionals: walking, jogging, swimming, and there was even a large motor-boat tracing the arc of shore just outside the surf-line, trailing behind it an early-morning water-skier, despite it being just barely 8 o’clock. The sun was pushing itself up over the mountain and its rays were criss-crossing through the palms and beginning to hit and warm the beach sand. Fish jumped out in the bay, seabirds wheeled by in the air, little crabs scuttled along the sand and the surrounding hillsides were covered in a dense, emerald fuzz (the fuzz part due in part, perhaps, to failing eyesight) of happily well-watered vegetation.
As I came back into our yard after my beach walk, I spotted this mushroom poking its head up between the rocks in our driveway. It was no more than about 5 cms (2″) high and looked like a fragile, rice-paper parasol.
