Summer’s end

I had planned to hike on Saturday, the last official day of summer, but a forecast of rain and thundershowers in the San Ramon Valley area cancelled my plans. Not the way I had anticipated saying farewell to the summer months at all. I settled for a lazy day at my parent’s house watching college football. But when the storm finally arrived I grabbed my camera and explored the front and back yards for any photo opportunities the rains might bring.

I had packed my Canon 70D with the 17 to 40mm wide angle zoom and added the 70-200mm telephoto zoom to the camera bag for any possible rain pictures. I thought about packing the 100mm macro but I had decent results on the trail with the 17-40mm lens so I opted to keep it simple. I wasn’t even sure if there was going to be anything to take pictures of. The storm clouds rolled above Tracy and the photo opportunities seemed slim at best.

I went outside once and just explored the backyard that I had spent many a day playing in when I was young. A myrtle tree with bright purple flowers was an obvious choice as was the fern fronds hanging off  nearby tree. The last roses of the season left in the yard and a curious kitten watching my every move were other pictures to capture as I waited for the storm’s arrival.

 

Finally in the mid afternoon the first rain drops fell sending me out to capture water drops glistening off the leaves.  I worked quickly as not to soak the new camera on the second outing. I even managed to find a butterfly taking refuge from the rain on a plant under the eaves of the house. When the rain stopped I went looking for more water drops clinging to branches and petals around the garden.

My weekend hike changed from the last hike of summer to the first hike in fall as I planned to head out and get my hike in on the next day. it wasn’t the way I had planned to end the summer season but I did manage to capture a few final moments of a a summer I will never forget.