Rainy Morn

 It's been rainy for several days. Several weeks, actually, with a few breaks. Mostly they've been gentle rains, just enough to keep the ground moist and the plants growing. For a bonus, of course, it's been the most mosquito filled couple of weeks now in the recent years I've been in this northern yard. By bonus, I mean if you're a critter that likes them for breakfast. And lunch. Or afternoon, suppertime, and bedtime snacks. If so, you've been very well fed recently. If you haven't been very well fed on mosquitoes, maybe it's you I can blame for them being very well fed on me!

There have been winds going through as well, some times with the rain, sometimes without any rain. The driveway is lined with old birch trees, both paper and river birches. They tend to be full of dead twigs, and rubbing branches do an excellent job of tossing those twigs off in all directions. Some get dragged onto the street under the cars backing out. Sometimes somebody actually has a few spare moments before leaving the driveway to pick up a couple dozen and toss them on the twig pile. Some are just left where they land and get broken by car tires without becoming rearranged.

All those twigs are basically an excuse to stop and watch what next is blooming in the garden lining the drive. This week it's iris. The first of the bulb, or Dutch iris, already bloomed last week and are gone, except in photos. I marked their locations well, and plan to dig some up and move to our new home. Their blue was exquisite. Today, looking out the front window, yellow caught my eye. A closer look, after the rain stopped and I'd donned clothing, revealed them to be a blend of yellow and white, with grey lines. With raindrops of course.

Looking further away from the driveway I discovered a light purple and white iris emerging from dark blue buds. It was another Dutch iris, still fairly small, and hiding a second bloom right behind it. I thought about taking several shots to try to get a truly good one, or at least separate the two for more definition, but my stepping through grass and hostas to shoot even the first ones had awakened several dozen hungry mosquitos already.

I know, I should have gone inside at that point. I had summer pants on, denim only to the knees, with ankle high socks. Plenty of area for a five course banquet for the bugs, and the dinner bell hadn't stopped ringing. However, there were also large bearded iris in the garden, huge dark purple blooms, also full of raindrops,  and furry orange throats. I'd taken a shot or 11 of them a day or two earlier, before the rain.

Now I had to take a dozen shots of them after the rain. I just had to. I could run away from mosquitos later. Or at least try. So I stayed out and fed a few dozen more. just for this.

 As I type this, the bites have (mostly) stopped itching. I think it was worth it. Let's see now if the pale blue and the orange bearded iris have survived the winter. Should take about a week to find out.