A Wet One

It was raining when I woke up this morning. It was drizzling when I left the house. It was pouring once I had gotten out of my truck and unlocked the gate. I took a very quick photo of a fat little bee enjoying the Morning Glories before the rain was too heavy to have the camera out. When I got to the office and started the paperwork, the rain slowed down. When I finished the paperwork, the rain stopped. The sun came out and I thought it might be a nice day. I went for a walk around the park and picked up some branches that had fallen in the storm. I walked down to the spring dock and the spring was beautiful. All of the leaves on the trees were drippy, there was a very thin fog over the water, and there were fallen leaves everywhere. Fall is really trying to sneak up on us. I took a couple of photos of the big rock in front of the spring dock. The blue sky was reflecting so beautifully on the surface of the water and the leaves in the little puddle on the rock were such a dark crimson. It was really stunning and I was beginning to wonder if any park visitors would even come in and see it. Then visitors began to arrive and the sun was gone again. It stayed cloudy and humid and sticky out for the rest of the day.

The park did start to fill up, and it didn't rain anymore, but it was pretty yucky out. There a very large dive class that was really well organized so it didn't seem like such a big group. There were also a few other small groups of divers throughout the day. A few families came through, a couple of fishermen, and a group celebrating some birthdays. I kept pretty busy pacing back and forth between the office and the parking lot, checking in divers, selling passes, selling t-shirts, and keeping up with phone messages and e-mail. I got just a few more photos throughout the day.

I saw a neat little orange insect that I have never noticed before. It was really tiny. I also love to see the raindrops on the bush with the yellow flower. There is something about the shape and the frequency of its tiny leaves that keep the raindrops suspended within it. I'm not sure exactly which type of plant this is, but it is in the St John's Wort family. The last photo, just before I went home was the Gulf Fritillary on the Giant Ironweed (aka, the orange butterfly on the purple flower).