Rain at Hidden Valley

 It rained off and on today, and right now, at 10:37 p.m., it is pouring outside. I was not planning on going anywhere today, that is why I took the day yesterday to go down to San Diego. Today was going to be a grading day, but I managed to procrastinate until the evening. I really wanted to take the day off today also.

During a break in the weather I started seeing blue sky, and the cloud formations looked dramatic. I could have stayed home at 1 p.m., but I told myself that no, I needed to go out and try for some raincloud photos. So I got ready. I had to run a quick errand first to the post office to drop off an order of slide rolls for development, these will have mainly slide photos of the murals at Chicano Park in Barrio Logan, then I was on Main Street, heading for the onramp to go up to 6th Street, my exit for the Hidden Valley Reserve.

I am enjoying so much the lectures on ancient daily life prepared by Professor Garland. He could have made it very bland and academic but no, thankfully, he brings it all to life in a poetic way, and I can listen to the lectures over and over. Right now, I am entranced by his description of life for the average person in Egypt, the civilization that Herodotus called the "Gift of the Nile". 

I arrived and it was windy, but I was resolved, I was going to get some photos. It was about 2 p.m., so I walked out and started using my Nikon D750 with my red filter. The clouds were quite impressive, although I could see a wave of rain coming from the north. I could tell because the view is of an undifferentiated band of dark grey, not of light clouds, just dark grey that was approaching. I still risked it and walked around, and the light came and went. I even walked down to the indigenous habitat, then on my way back, I could just tell that pressure was building. I needed to get back to my car quickly, and as I did, I could feel the rain approaching. I made it just in time.

The wave was not severe, but it came and went. I later went to the other eastern parking lot and took some photos there, but the cold wind was uncomfortable, and it looked as if the rain might head my way again. Then I left, bought something to eat and was back home by about 5 p.m. It was a good outing, and it took a little longer than I anticipated, but I drove on the streets as I drove back, I didn't get on the highway. It gave me a chance to hear about marriage rituals in ancient Egypt.

There aren't many cellphone photos this time, but I will post a few. The best photos are the ones that I took with my DSLR, but I don't have the time to unload the card and connect it to the Mac. I'll do that some other time.