Howling wind, riding...

I woke this morning to the sound of the wind howling past my windows. The sky was gray, clouds scudding across the horizon. Dry, but with storms forecast to descend on the area later today and tomorrow...

I think the weather wizard is assisting me by making it easy for me to have a quiet weekend before I leave for Nova Scotia with my bicycle next Thursday. My plans? To ride today (and I did), to take a total rest day tomorrow, and possibly to give in to my bike's request and take a short ride on Monday. My biking mileage for this week was just over half of my usual summer week's mileage, so (hopefully) I've already started to bank some rest.

My ride today was a series of loops. Given the darkness of the sky, I didn't trust the wet to hold off until I returned home, and I figured that if I was still on the road when the raindrops started falling, at least I wouldn't have a long way to go to reach shelter. Luckily, my ride remained dry.

Listening to rain falling can be pleasant when you're not actually experiencing the wetness...

Just opening flowers still delight the eye, even this late in the season

Buds too... I wonder when the flowers will decide that it's time to stop blooming. Some trees are already confused and turning colors - but my eyes are still delighted to see these new buds.