As soon as Irving awakens in the morning he reaches for a little transistor radio with ear buds sitting on his bedside table. So that when I eventually wake, he can tell me what's top in the news for the day, and above all, the weather for the day. Environment Canada revealed the good news, that the polluted air we've been burdened with will be diminished today. Not eliminated, but diminished. And what will have a hand in that state of affairs was the other part of the weather report; the afternoon would be suffused with a series of thunderstorms.

 

Little wonder the air was so thick and humid. So we decided we'd have breakfast, clean up and get out for an early ravine trot-about in the forest with Jackie and Jillie. They approved, as we knew they would. We were in no great hurry; we'd been enjoying sunshine all the morning while we had breakfast and puttered about. Soon enough clouds moved in, and it was also evident that with the clouds there was another obstacle obscuring the landscape, that smoky haze we've learned to live with. Today though there was little odour of acrid smoke that dominated yesterday.

 

Just as we were moving down the driveway to access the street, there was a low, ominous rumble. As in drat! We proceeded to the ravine and as soon as we entered the forest the haze seemed less prominent, although to be sure, it was evident later looking at photographs I'd taken of our tramp. At ground level wildflowers were happily blooming; daisies, clover, fleabane, pontentilla, blackberry flowers and thimbleberries among them.

 

 

There was a pleasant breeze cutting the heat of the day, challenging the humidity. Through the course of our circuit we came across a few other people enjoying an outing. We tried not to think about more warnings from above, and none were heard. And nor did we encounter a thunderstorm, as we congratulated ourselves for our decision to get out earlier than usual to make certain our puppies wouldn't miss their daily course through the forest trails.

 

 

The prospect of cleaning the house on house-cleaning Monday didn't faze us; it would all get done. And as a conclusion to our outdoor activities on our return home we just had to irresistibly linger awhile in the garden. Rose mallow has taken over part of one of the beds right beside the  road. It's a contest with its sprawl and the much more extensive grab of the now-flowering perennial digitalis. This is the month for roses to bloom and they're living up to their reputation.

 

 

When we eventually got back into the house Jackie and Jillie began to bark. As they do when they hear thunder. It was too dim and distant for us to have taken notice. But that didn't last long. A bare twenty minutes after our return home the sky opened and tipped a veritable lake onto the landscape. Rain heavy enough to form instant puddles on the walkway, driveway, road. And it was darker than dark. The storm eventually exhausted itself and the sun emerged.

 

 

So we had sun for perhaps ten minutes, and then the arrival of another thunderstorm. Dark and dripping, wind blasting heavy sheets of rain directly at the house windows. Then the rain wasted itself and the sun appeared. This pattern of ongoing thunderstorms and brief sunny interludes formed the basis of the afternoon drama this day presented. With luck a similar series of thunderstorms may be helping the firefighting crews to control and eventually douse the wildfires they've been battling for a month.