About three miles in light rain

I knew it was going to be hot.  I was busy with some other stuff that I am trying to do and paid inadequate attention to weather radar before jumping on my bicycle for a morning ride.

I had read the newspaper and watched the news and had been informed that it was going to be hot but for some reason when I actually got out there there were clouds in the sky and a wet feeling breeze was blowing.  I wanted to be home in time for the evening London time Olympic events so I just pretended that everything was fine and headed out to ride.

I believe I left some issues unresolved yesterday in an abbreviated commentary on a passage through the Fairgrounds.  For example, the temperature displays at both ends of the grandstand are currently not working, but here is the cattle barn this morning.

As I pointed out yesterday, the Fair itself is really close.  Here is today's evidence that this is true, this other bit of business at the opposite end of the CB, the Moo Booth.  The business address of the Farm Campus dairy club is set up in preparation for the big event.

Those in the know will ignore the wide spread in the local media belief that the best malt at the Fair is the one at the Dairy Building and proceed to the dairy club booth for a guaranteed satisfactory milk shake.

I also swung by the former church dining hall and took a picture this time.

Upon a close examination it vaguely resembles to me an Old Mexico or some similar kind of joint.  I no longer expect a sit down burgers and beer joint, I expect a sit down tacos (well, actually huge burritos and chimichangas and that sort of stuff) and beer joint.

I was riding along about 10 miles in when without much in the way of change in conditions that would have warned me that it was about to happen I suddenly felt little drops of rain.  I turned immediately towards home.  Those who know me know that I am highly motivated by rain.

Well, at least it never rained hard.  But I rode along for about three miles in what was definitely rain, light rain to be sure, but rain. As I rode towards home I thought that I noticed from my now frequent glances at the sky that I was riding in the direction of some blue sky. I was sprinting for home, thinking that if I was lucky the rain would stop and that I could probably re-cycle later if the streets dried. But about the time I passed into the mile and a half from home circle the blue sky prevailed over the clouds directly over my head and the sun was out.  The rain stopped.

I still had some miles that I wanted to do on my agenda so I peeled off and headed out to Shoreview.

I spotted my first deer in at least a couple of months out there.  Unfortunately for me the deer in Shoreview are less likely to pose than the deer in Michigan.  She hopped over some ornamental plantings into the back yard of a lake side home, very, very much urban, but very, very much comfortably at ease.

Deer.

Vermin.

It was such a nice day that I swung by the beach at Lake Josephine to see if beach activities had resumed.  Well, not so much.

It looks pretty nice though, don't you think?

They did have life guards on duty.  That senior life guard on the left there is engaged in picking up trash.  That has to be one of the less glamorous tasks assigned to what was at least in my youth viewed as a fairly glamorous summer job.  However, with no swimmers visible in the water, probably picking up some trash is the best possible use of her time.

And finally, in my role as quasi-official nay-sayer of the network of the Olympics I have a comment on the gymnastics controversy:  When does the track meet start?