Although it began in the early evening with high winds and dark skies blooming like errant floral displays in the bowl of the night sky, the overnight rain was overwhelmingly relentless and voluminous, pounding against the windows of the house and anything else in its downpouring pathway. When we awoke on Sunday morning, it was still pelting down, and the atmosphere was beyond gloomy. From the weather forecast we assumed that this would be a rare non-ravine-walk day.

But then the rain seemed to taper off, and we thought otherwise, only to realize that this was merely a temporary lull as once again the rain increased in volume and intensity. This little drama of expectations raised then dashed was repeated time and again as the morning moved into early afternoon. And then, amazingly, the rain stopped, the clouds looked a lighter grey, and we decided to make a dash for the woods, wearing raincoats, all of us, including Riley. Just to see how far we could go before being forced by this fierce inclemency to turn back.

Instead, we ended up hiking the entire long circuit we generally embark upon through the course of a normal weather day. It was amazingly mild, around 18 degrees, and the humidity was so intense it increased the feeling of warmth. As we progressed through the sodden woods, with overwhelmed foliage forcing branches to slump toward the ground and occasional gusts of wind sprinkling the moisture generously over our heads, we suddenly caught a glimpse of a sunshaft blazing through the overhead canopy to the forest floor, and looking above, saw a dim outline of the sun, then brighter, until its full glory was revealed, momentarily, as it lapsed back into the clouds.

But these breaks in the cloud formation increased in number and soon there appeared patches of blue sky overhead. The environment was completely infiltrated by moisture. Mist hung mysteriously over the landscape, particularly where the creek ran through the wooded ravine. And when the sun managed to make its way through both the moisture-laden air and the full tree canopy, it shone fairy-like with a strange luminescence, light yet presenting as amazingly semi-opaque.

This was a fairly different kind of aesthetic adventure, luring our senses into admiration for the many faces of Nature which has, over the years inducted us into her vast club of admirers. And then, a short while after we returned from our day's amble in the woods, the sun was once again obscured by gathering clouds in preparation for an imminent return for the pounding rain.