Rainy Walk

Today while I was finishing a nap, David took Penny down to Sandogardy Pond. I had just woken up, so I didn’t feel up to it. When he got back, the family had some supper, and by then, it was raining steadily.

But I have rain gear, so I thought I could take another solo walk down to the pond to see what I could see. David saw me putting on my rain pants, and decided he would join me. Cool! I was not expecting that. I asked Beth if she wanted to come, and to my surprise, she did too. Double bonus!

Penny knows when I’m going outside by any number of cues. I think this time it was the rain pants. Other things that will tip her off are the camera bag, my hat, and my shoes. By the time I grabbed my shoes she was in a frenzy and raring to go. She has a habit of sitting on my feet when I’m trying to put them on. I think it’s so I can’t get away without her being there, but it sure slows down the shodding process.

The four of us set out and didn’t get too far down the road before I saw a white iris. I guess that’s what it is:

White Iris

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these before. It was not there yesterday, because I took a picture of a day lily about three feet away then. I would have noticed. The day lily was in bloom again too.

By the time we got to the pond, the rain had stopped and the mosquitoes came out. They weren’t too thick though. The temperature was in the mid-fifties, so I was wearing a heavy shirt. Between that and my rain coat, they only had a shot at my hands and face, and they didn’t try very hard for those.

I found a mussel of some sort. I have never attempted to put an id on one of these, so I have no idea what species it might be. When I pulled it out of the edge of the water, it sucked in its pseudopod.

Beth holding a mussel

We put it back when we were done looking at it. I suppose it will become muskrat food soon enough. There are always piles of opened mussel shells on the shoreline, and since I know muskrats love to eat those, and since I have seen them here swimming under the ice, it’s probably safe to assume this is their work:

Muskrats need a busboy

David borrowed my camera and took several shots of the pond. The fog was rising off the water and he was trying to capture that. Here’s one of his better shots:

Fog on Sandogardy

I managed to get my three companions in a shot out on the dock:

On the dock

We came home shortly after that shot was taken. I think everyone enjoyed the walk, and probably me most of all. Or maybe that would be Penny!