June 20 Birdlip to Cheltenham

 When you wake up a little after 4:00 a.m. on June 20 in England, and it is not bright but the birds are singing, it means only one thing: rain, not super hard rain because in that case either a) the birds do not sing or b) they sing but you cannot hear them.  (I am going with 'a'.)

So it was on with all the rain gear: pack cover, rain pants and rain coat and poncho.  Also, short gators, which, I have decided, are super useful because they keep all the grassy stuff from getting into your boots and socks.  The rain became heavier and the sky was misty:

I couldn't decide whether this was an artistic photo or just bad because who wants to see a barn through thick mist?  

I passed a woman about as old as I am out there in the fields walking her dogs.  "Good morning," I said.  "Morning," she replied.""Just morning!" That made me think of the man with whom I exchanged pleasantries last week under better weather conditions, "Isn't it beautiful here?"  "Yes," he replied, "Except when it is pissing down rain." 

For some critters, these conditions, which, by the way greatly increase your risk of slip-and-fall, are just the ticket:

By and by I met his friend:

These snails are light green, the part that would be escargot, that is.  On the subject of animals, there was a sign on a tree: What snake in England incubates her young internally?  If you do not know, and I bet you do not, you can find the answer here: British Reptiles

 Walking in a heavy rain makes it harder to spot turn-offs, (or would that be turns-off)?  To wit: Imagine an intersection where I 95 meets I 91 and I 84 and there is a huge round-about and you don't know which way the F* to go.  Just try using your phone as a navigational device under such conditions and you will cry. So now you think, "By which vehicle would I like to be killed?" as all manner of trucks and cars are whizzing by in three or four directions, and all on the wrong side of the road, which really makes it disconcerting,  And remember, it is raining.  Finally I happened on the right direction (it was most unfortunate that the route was not the path through the field on the other side of the highways). It was one of the highways without a shoulder, so for about 1/2 a mile, well, it was most unnerving. Only at the turn away from the highway, did I espy the little path hidden from view at the other end that one was supposed to take to avoid being pulverized by a lorry. 

By and by the rain let up and I came upon a crew of volunteers working to better path:

People tend not to realize how much work goes into making a path.  A lot.

Cheltenham seems a lovely town and I am going to tour it tomorrow.  Today, after switching from boots to Keens, I headed off to M&S (Marks and Spencer) Food Emporium.  It puts Whole Foods to shame, let's just say that.  Look what they sell and it is only Tuesday:

I wonder if the Spelling Bee would take that as an alternate spelling.