Lily Pond in the Rain

We've moved into a rainy weather pattern again - rain off and on for several days straight. But I don't generally let the rain keep me from my little photo jaunts, as you well know.

I almost didn't stop anywhere extra on my morning drive. Because: rain. But then I thought of the Arboretum and I just knew in my heart of hearts that something beautiful would be waiting there for me.

You know my little morning stops are often very quick, and I was only at the Arboretum for twelve minutes on this day. I arrived at the lily pond just as the sun peeked out, and it was lovely there, as you can see.

So I took some pictures and then I checked on the Mexican sunflowers by the Sundial. No butterflies were there, and few bees, in the rain. I had my umbrella out, and as the rain started to pick up, I put my camera in its bag.

Well, isn't that the kiss of death? Putting away the camera? For the instant I turned around, I saw a sight I have never seen before at the Arboretum: an adult white-tailed deer, traveling at top speed!

It must have come through the gap by the fountain, and then it sprinted across the large green area in the center of everything. It neatly cleared the stairs at the Overlook Pavilion as though it had been doing stairs its whole live-long life, and then it dashed through the pavilion and disappeared out of sight!

Alas, yours truly could only stand, mouth agape, at the spectacle. I did not even bother trying to get out my camera, and it's hard to say what that shot would even have been like: a deer-blur dashing through the green.

So I quickened my pace and hurried to the pavilion to check on the deer. There are glass doors there, and I worried - might it have run into something? But when I got there, no, there was no deer to be seen.

But there were two folks who work at the Arboretum, standing there looking sorta dazed, like me. I don't know what the man saw, but the woman said she had arrived on scene just as the deer (unharmed) disappeared down into the field behind the red elm.

I may have been the only person who saw the whole Arboretum-visiting-deer-at-top-speed episode from start to finish! And suddenly I knew why I was there. The amazing thing had happened, and I was present to witness it. :-)

So alas, I cannot show you the sprinting deer, which left me breathless, laughing, and amazed. (The gift of seeing it was enough, and I still can't stop thinking about it!) But here is the lovely lily pond as it was gently raining, with the sun just starting to peek out from among the clouds.

For the song . . . I do not own a blue raincoat, but this seems the perfect sort of song for this type of weather. The tune is Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat. I regret to admit that I find his versions rather slow and sad and depressing. So here are three covers I prefer, all by women: Tori Amos, and Joan Baez, and Jennifer Warnes.

By the way, I do recommend Jennifer's album by the same name - every song on it is good. I'm particularly fond of Joan of Arc, and the 20th anniversary edition of the album (which I bought) features several additional tracks, including a live version of Joan of Arc and the haunting If It Be Your Will.