All the indications are that, at long last, rain is heading our way!

Yesterday afternoon, the forecast for Grants Pass and area was:

Tonight (Friday):  A 30 percent chance of rain after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.

Saturday: Rain before 11am, then showers likely after 11am. High near 71. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.

As the crow flies, here in Merlin we are a tad over 10 miles to the North-West of the centre of Grants Pass. So we are holding our breath that we receive a decent wetting over this coming weekend.

All of which creates a wonderful lead-in to a recent item published over on Mother Nature News, that I am delighted to share with you.

ooOOoo

‘Wet Dog’ portraits expose bath-time vulnerability

By: Catie Leary, October 15, 2015.

Bath time may not be a pup’s favorite activity, but if these comical “Wet Dog”‘ portraits are any indication, there may be a silver lining to this necessary evil.

The dog lover behind this endearing series is Sophie Gamand, a New York-based photographer who regularly focuses her lens on canines to examine the relationship they have with humans.

“Wet Dog is a series of dogs captured at the groomer during their least favorite activity: Bath time,” Gamand writes on her website. “I chose this activity because it is a very unnatural one for the dogs, yet it is a direct consequence of their cohabitation with humans.”

Seeing our best friends in such a vulnerable state can be comical and heart-wrenching — especially because canine facial expressions possess an uncanny resemblance to our own.

Gamand began photographing soggy doggies a while back, but after some of the images went viral, she felt compelled to put together a complete “Wet Dog” photo book.

The comical coffee table book, which is now available for purchase, is filled with 120 photos of these soaked doggies — each sporting his own unique post-bath expression.

Continue below for a look at just a few of the images featured in the book.