13th June 2016 Rain spotting.

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Monday 13th 53F, 12C, heavy overcast, windy with light rain. The drought is over. Long live[d] the drought! More light rain showers are forecast for most of today. And they did, so I didn't. Rest day.

Clouds captured the other day looked like ragged insulation after a tour in a bleach bath. Romantics may simply prefer "cotton wool."

Tuesday 14th 55F, 13C, heavy overcast, breezy but dry. Possible showers later. It remained rather dark, breezy and with spots of rain in the air on my walk. Swallows were racing about at knee level in the village. One flew between my legs and a wall which was only 3 feet away. I have been seeing quite a few House martins over the last week. Larger and bulkier than Swallows, they make the same kinds of adhered nest under roof overhangs on buildings. They are amazingly agile in the air and fly in enthusiastic groups as they swoop over ridges and through small gaps. The shallow V-tail and white chests and rump are the easiest recognition factors. They can usually be seen in wet areas or beside field ponds collecting mud for their nests. They are a migratory bird which winters in South Africa but breeds right across Europe. Busy, so no ride today.

Wednesday 15th 58-70F, 15-21C, heavy overcast, light winds. Showers possible including thundery. Horsens in mid Jylland [Jutland] had 115mm or nearly 4½" of rain in two hours of continuous cloudburst! Still dry here at 5.30pm though mountainous clouds with black curtains beneath were visible to the north as I left mid afternoon. A highly variable crosswind was not too much of a problem.

The usual lunatic commuters were compensating for their otherwise empty lives by driving dangerously. One BMW went past me so fast that it nearly did a somersault when it was forced to brake hard behind an already speeding car on the blind brow of a hill. Do not assume that I am anti-car or ignorant of speeds. I have been driving for decades. Others were overtaking cars which were already overtaking me. Then diving in before an oncoming car had to leave the road to avoid a head on collision. Obviously these deranged drivers are suffering from delusions of grandeur as to the importance of their negative contribution to humanity. They actually believe that gaining one place on busy commuter roads will somehow change their lives. How does that work? Does the busy road magically clear ahead if only they can pass the one car which is sticking to the speed limit? Have they really bought in to the car advertisers' "rainbow" effect? I am seeing quite a lot of Tesla electric cars. There are so many of them now that some of them are actually dirty. That is how commonplace they have now become. 13 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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