Day 108: I'm taking advantage of the shelter afforded by my carport to acquaint myself with the luxurious lichen population growing on the wisteria. I'd never really looked at it closely, and therefore was unaware that its main trunk, as big around as my biceps, shows hardly any bark at all between colonies of assorted Lecanoras and some sooty-black Mycoblastus. Lecanora pacifica seems to dominate, its greenish disks often layering over one another on the shady side. In fact, I've spent a lot of this month analyzing bark and fence rails in my yard, unwilling to brave the incessant rain.
Let me put this in perspective for you. I've been keeping weather records more or less continuously since March 1975, here since 1990 and near Olympia prior to that date. Average annual rainfall at my present location is roughly 45" per year. There have been years when it was substantially lower, and there have been a few when it was significantly higher. We usually get our heaviest precipitation in November and March and occasionally in January. We are having one of those drenching January deviations. There has not been a single day in 2020 that I have not recorded precipitation in some form or another, maybe a few snowflakes or a light shower, or maybe an utter downpour. In any event, as of 1:59 PM today, my gauge shows a total of 10.38". We still have two and a half days to go.
I do not hike in the rain. I did my time in the rain when I worked at Carbon River, penetrating rain which demonstrated that the Goretex of the era wasn't quite as refined as the manufacturers claimed. I often came back from my patrols soaked to the bone and mud up to the neck (or farther). I figure I've put in my share of drowned hours, but now I can pick my hiking days according to the forecast. That's not to say I won't hike in light drizzle, but I will not, repeat not go out in a frog-strangler unless I am compelled to do so by unassailable reason. Today I am wondering: does wanting to kill something count? I NEED OUT!
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