A Bear! and Rain!

Two unusual sightings in our yard today. 

I slept in til 5:20 this morning. When I retrieved the disk from the wildlife camera strapped to the crabapple tree in our front yard, I scrolled through the pictures to see the resident rabbits and two deer that visit daily. Then a big black blob appeared in one -- a black bear! The time stamp said 5:17 AM...if only I had rolled out of bed at my usual 5 AM, I might have seen it out the dining room window. Although, it is now a bit dark at that hour and I likely would have been looking the other way focused on making a pot of coffee.  Tomorrow morning I will be more alert. 

A black bear rambles through our yard this morning.

We've had little rain since some time in July. The ground is rock hard. The outdoor plants are asking for more water. We've been teased at least once a week since mid-July with potential thunderstorms to bring rain. Each time they pass our patch with barely a drop. I recall only a few times during this stretch where we got a sprinkle, only enough to wash dust off the leaves. 

The forecast for today held promise. We even heard rain falling during the night, but it was just a sprinkle again. As I write this mid-afternoon, the dark clouds are forming, some rain is falling, and I hear thunder (but that could also be the Blue Angels Air Show at Pease). Now, a few hours later, as storm clouds roll through and thunder in the distance, we get a nice drenching. This feels like a true rain -- an unusual sighting, to be sure, this growing season.