#Smoky days
This summer is a little different from the last 3 or 4 in that my youngest child is weaned and sleeping through the night, so I've been able to go out jogging early in the morning. It's a wonderful way to start the day.
It's currently light all night, of course, so the sun is well up when I go out around 4:30. The streets in the neighborhood are very quiet, though around 4:40 there starts to be a pretty steady trickle of people leaving for work. The temperature has been pleasantly cool, around 55 degrees F when I am out. As May has turned into June, the heavy perfume of chokecherry blossoms in the neighborhood gave way to the more pleasant scent of lilacs.
I love how every morning is different from another and they are all beautiful in their own way. Father's Day weekend brought glorious hot, sunny weather:
By the next week we had forest fire smoke and weak orange sunlight:
The smoke got thicker:
And thicker:
Finally, it cleared up this weekend with the promise of more sunny weather with temperatures in the 80s for the Fourth of July:
It has been very special to get out in the fresh (or smoky) air and see the early morning, and I am thankful. It makes me think about how God's richest gifts are free for everyone. Like morning sunlight on the houses, or seeing the sun twinkling through the branches of a dark, stately spruce. Or dandelions and robins on the lawn. I'm still amazed and grateful that there are enough robins in Fairbanks for everyone to have one on their lawn, even us in the humblest apartment buildings in our neighborhood.
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