"Terry" writes:

"Jean" Bible was never IFR
rated and only flew 30 minutes or so each flight in clear skies and
daylight.

Nobody has commented on this. It strikes me that with 24 years of
flying experience she was only flying 30 minute flights in clear
skies. Had she always done that, or only recently?

Yesterday there was a gap between storms in North California, so I
made a 30 minute local flight under broken clouds. There were a line
of rain showers to the west of the airport. Some spots had heavy rain
that I could not see through, others lighter rain. I flew through one
of the lighter areas, and back, just to remind myself what it was
like. The point is that one must challenge oneself on occasion, not
to routinely do risky behavior but to be a little prepared should
something bad happen. Hopefully one gets that on BFRs or Wings
excursions, but you can safely do it yourself too.