It has been a rainy and cool spring here in Maine. We have had over 5″ of rain in our area from Friday through Monday with temperatures around 60° and the winds were blowing a gale.  This is a strange weather system. Most of our weather patterns come from the north, the west or even from the south, but this one is coming at us from the east. The low is stuck right over the ocean and as you look at the weather map, the rains are moving from east to west.  Today is Tuesday and guess what?!  It’s still raining.  Isn’t this supposed to be the second day of summer???

Needless to say, last weekend was not quite so much fun at camp.  A trip to the outhouse or the woodpile meant coming back into the cabin looking like a drowned rat. While sitting in my favorite chair looking out at the waves in the lake and the rain spatters on the sliding doors, I mused about a photo that my brother had sent me last week from Texas.

My brother lives in North Dakota  and is a long-distance truck driver. He has driven pretty much all over the lower 48 (although he has never been to our part of Maine). He is fortunate to have his wife as a traveling companion during his many “road trips”. Last week he sent me the photo to the right of his wife that was taken at a roadside rest in Texas.  I simply can’t imagine stopping at a roadside rest where there was a sign that read “Watch Out For Rattlesnakes”!!  What a scary thought—that a snake could visit you during a bathroom break!

Yikes!! As the photo floated through my mind, the wind, the rain and the cool weather suddenly didn’t really seem so bad.  The weather may be frightful but we never have to worry about crossing the path of a rattlesnake on the way to or inside of the outhouse.   I snuggled down in my chair next to a cheery fire in the woodstove and read a good book. Rain…no big deal! Rattlesnakes — indeed!