The smoke seems to be finally lifting, which is nice, but I will miss the sunsets. The smokey haze has given us the most amazing views of the setting sun these past several days. The smoke was much more intense when we were on our trip, as we were near the Moose Fire, but our hotel didn’t have a view of the horizon. Here at home, at the top of our ridge, we usually have nice sunset views, but the smoke, while annoying, adds another layer of beauty to our big sky. Bright golds and orange with tinges of purple at times – it is a blessing that we have such a spectacular view here.
We are getting back into our normal routine – though careful to not fall back into old patterns. It was exceptionally nice to have a full day at home with just ourselves… and the cats, of course. We took that opportunity to sanitize the room where the boy stayed and washed everything we could. I also discovered that he had been stealing other food – he apparently got into my beef jerky cache and laid waste.
We also prepped the area for the plant shelves installation, which is happening this afternoon. I am excited to have a dedicated space for the plants, and a place for the spring seedlings. My wife is glad that we won’t have the spring jungle explosion with plants on every available surface. The shelves will give the plants a spot in the sun but drastically reduce the plant-related clutter in our front room making tidying up much easier.
The gal who’s been mowing for us came today. Since she’s only 15, her mother drives her and we usually end up chatting a while. I’ve been loaning her the Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality series, one of my favorites, trading out a book every two weeks. She’s starting on to the third one now, and seems to be enjoying them as much as I did. (And I just realized I accidentally loaned her the fourth book today, not the third… but thankfully they don’t require sequential reading.)
Anyhow, things to do – the birds can’t turn the sprinkler on to frolic in by themselves…
Song of the day: Big Sur by Porcelain Raft