When:  Saturday–Early Morning – 2/17/2018
Weather: The walk was short with 50ish temps.  The rain was teasing!
Observations/Thoughts

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a walk is less than you wanted.  My grand plan today was to get up and walk before we headed to the airport.  Just as I was getting the paper to review my coffee, the sprinkles came.  And, as the coffee was consumed the rain decided it was tired of sprinkles.  The hard rain continued for nearly an hour.  Knowing I was unlikely to escape its return, I began the safest possible walk with an umbrella in hand.  (By “safest possible walk”, this is the path that provided for many points where the walk could be shortened and home could be embraced more quickly IF the sprinkles graduated into full-blown droplets.)

The rain didn’t bring out much company on the sidewalk, but it did create things to observe:

• The roofers remembered:  Our roof was completed a couple of days ago.  After the rain, the roofers were remembered.  The area just beyond the mouth of the downspouts had a few casualties washed out from above.  Not every nail hits its target.  I encountered 30+ nails who would have minded their own business until a tire poked them the wrong way.  Some of the nails even surfed the wave to the street.  The candidates for providing evacuation would have been far greater there.  The next few showers of rain may continue to have a few laggers who are tired of living in the gutters.
• Detritus fans and related configurations: When the surf emerges from the downspouts, it bears many things.  Many of these things are just innocent participants in an early spring birthing.  The trees–both evergreen and deciduous pass along the unwanted to the rooftop.  The rain drags these rejects from the peaks of the rooftop to the freedom found below.  As the wave ends, the various debris can only go as far as the water propellant allows.  When the water is drawn so thin it can no longer carry its passengers, the passengers typically are left on the sidewalk to fend for themselves.  And, as the rain enters the yard to eventually seek lower elevation, it will bring sand and silt and what every lightweight recruit it can carry.  The amazing thing to me is the sand.  The sidewalks that always seem to have sand on their sidewalks NEVER seem to run out.  It is always there for the next rain to flush out.
• The creek:  The creek is usually just a trickle.  After a good rain, it all heads down to the trickling, gurgling little creek.  When it comes in abundance, the grass submits to the higher authority of the liquid god.  It lays down as if worshipping.  The long-legged cranes stand in the water out of fondness or hunger.  The cranes can only be viewed while moving. If you stop to get their picture, they will get spooked and find a less curiosity abundant part of the path.
• Rust stains:  The rain doesn’t hesitate to pull evacuees from where ever it can.  On many of the sidewalks, there are rust stains.  My theory is to blame the rain.  The rain washes over the iron fences.  It washes the iron away atom by atom.  Eventually, the iron accumulates along the sidewalk.  After borrowing some oxygen, it gives a nice rust color along the outer edge of the sidewalk. Not really appealing, but not a mystery.
• Pool pump:  The combination of the new roof and the moving of sprinkler heads chased up enough dirt and debris to likely overwhelm our pool pump.  It was a little sick before these projects.  It seems to be in dire need of attention now.  I hope this is the last project where professional help will be necessary.  There are some landscaping and places where sod could be invited.  I can handle the projects where a good back is needed.  When it comes to expert help, I am hopefully wise enough to know when to call “Uncle” early rather than too late.