Rainy Days

Today is St. Swithin's Day and, according to British lore, if it rains today it will rain for the next forty days. You guessed it -- it rained today. I'm not surprised at the bleak forecast.

I went hiking with the hiking group today near the village of Hebden, just outside of Grassington. I know those names don't mean much to alot of folks -- they are villages high in the North Yorkshire moors. Our ears were popping as we made our way to our destination and we ran into some dense hill fog along the way. Even so, it was surprisingly warm atop the moors and everyone began stripping off layers of clothing before we were halfway through the hike. We hiked through some stunningly beautiful country: soft rolling hills carved out into plots of land with dry stone walls. We encountered a few sheep here and there and unfortunately a couple of them were lame. How sad it was to see the poor animals stumbling and limping along. The terrain was rather rough, so I guess even the sheep have trouble with it. Lunch was at the Clarendon Free House in Hebden. The menu was quite ambitious and the chef was definitely up to the challenge. The rain began just as we left the pub and headed back home, Next week we may hike the mosaic trail again. I'm bummed cuz my digital camera is on the fritz, so I won't be able to finish my photo essay of the trail. :-(