The crippled crab takes a walk

 

I've just returned from an hour long walk.  Or, to be more precise, from a walk that took an hour to complete.  The loop around the farm usually takes about half an hour but today I was walking like a crippled crab, a bit hunched over and slightly sideways.   It might not have looked like I was enjoying the walk but I could feel my aching back loosening with each step.  

Looking around the farm it is obvious we desperately need rain.  There's still a bit of green on the flats but the hills are awfully dry.

Down by the creek the little stream that is fed by a spring up in the mountains is down to a slow trickle.

 And where it feeds into the creek, weed is flourishing.  It needs a good downpour to flush it all away.

 

A bit further along the creek, it looks more like a lake, there is so little movement in the water.

 Even the poplars along the creek bank look dull and dusty.

  

Weeds are flourishing amongst the grass too, but I couldn't bend down to get a close look at them. 

 

It's a glorious day.  Many Kiwis are being denied a day in the sun at the beach because of the tsunami surging around the coast.  But imagine being one of the people in the earthquake zone in Chile.  My sympathy is with them.