2016 Weather Forecast

It is Spring in San Miguel. My nasturtiums are blooming. The lime tree is covered in blossoms and busy bees.

In my opinion our winter lasts from the middle of December to the middle of February when it starts to warm up. We have even had a few days in the past 10 days that made it up to the eighties. The nights are still cool but I'm not turning on the warming pad on the bed anymore. When I leave for exercise class in the morning I need a light jacket but an hour and a half later, it is unnecessary.

By the end of next month the weather will be heading into the "hot" season. During that time even the nights can be hot and some people have installed AC units for their bedrooms. The hot weather will last until the rains start. hopefully about the middle of June. Then we will be back to lovely weather until the middle of December.

And that is my weather forecast for 2016.

Passing Ferry Boats

After a breakfast of eggs, sausage, biscuits and grits at the Island Cafe with my friend Frank, he headed out towards Corpus Christi. Actually he was not going to Corpus Christi, he was looking for the blue lines on a map that would take him to small communities north and east of Corpus, the places where he can find his images.

I picked up my camera bag and headed out too, into a heavy, wet fog. First to the beach and the life guard stations. I've already photographed them in sun and in overcast light from clouds but that wasn't quite what I wanted. Maybe the fog would be it. It was so quiet on the beach. Very few people and the fog seemed to muffle the sound of the waves as well as the sight of them until you were close to the water. The horizon was lost.

After I photographed the horizon and the life guard stations, I headed over to the ferry docks. The ferry boats would look good in the fog and perhaps a tanker would glide past as well. I was close to a couple who were fishing and while I waited for a tanker we struck up a conversation. Guess what? They were about my oldest son's age and she went to the same high school that he did. She didn't remember him because she was a couple of years older. And then we discovered that her family had lived in the same subdivision that we did.

Once again, I'm reminded, it is a small world.

Weatherproof

The end of the rainy season should be arriving but so far it isn't here. That is okay. We are high desert and we can always use the rain. Especially the rain we have been getting. Mostly a good steady rain for a few hours not monsoon rains that sometimes come. I'm sure the farmers are happy with it.

It is just that it has been so unpredictable. You can look out the window and see sunshine and shadows and by the time you have finished the dishes, dressed and opened the front door, you see rolling clouds and rain to the North in the mountains. Or it could be just the opposite. Rain. So you decide to start a project instead of going out to photograph. Once you are in the middle of the project you look out again and the weather is beautiful…..but you are in the middle of a project and can't stop.

That is the way it has been this weekend with the San Miguel Festival going on. I went into town on Saturday to photography the first communion kids in front of the Parroquia and to wait around for the horses to come in to be blessed although I didn't know exactly what time that would be. When I left the house the weather looked fine. I didn't even take an umbrella with me but the clouds quickly rolled in and it started to rain. I bought an ice cream and waited under cover for quite a while. Finally I decided that I might as well go home because it looked like it had set in for the afternoon. I took this photography while walking home.

When I started walking in the rain I made the attempt to keep the camera covered then I remembered that Olympus claims the OMD and the lens I had on it are weatherproof. Yesterday was the first time I've given my Olympus camera the water test. The camera is still working today so I guess Olympus is right. It is at least rain proof.

Afternoon Rain

It is 5:00 PM and it is raining. The second hard rain this afternoon. It is especially loud in the studio because of the skylight over the stairs. I love being on the second floor where I can see the mountains fade into the rain but what is close by becomes saturated with color. When I focus on the raindrops against the window everything else disappears into a blur of watercolor. Seeing something as simple as the raindrops has brought joy to my heart on a difficult day.

The Rainy Season

Rain. Rain almost everyday. This is good. San Miguel doesn't get a lot of rain fall so having rain on most days during the rainy season is very important to all the farmers and ranchers who live in the countryside. It is wonderful to watch the hillsides turn green. If this keeps up we should have a beautiful show of flowers in the campo during September.

Earlier I posted a picture of a sudden rain while I was in the Jardin. But I've also awoken during the night to hear nice steady raindrops falling on the tile roof of the portico. Oh, so lovely to listen for a bit and drift back off to sleep. Or stand at the window of the studio and watch the clouds roll in from over the mountains, then see the first drops splat on the cobblestones of the street. And if I come back in about 10 minutes I'll see the rainwater rushing downhill on the street. If the rain is really hard, it almost cascades over the cobblestones just as it passes my house.

I found this ivy plant all dewy with rain drops on one of my walks. I just stood there looking and enjoying the luscious saturated greens. Then I spent about 10 minutes looking through the viewfinder to isolate little rectangles of green. It is funny how taking the time to see little details can make my soul so happy.