Long Dawn

Day 331: Even with the 45,000 acre Retreat Fire just over the Cascade Crest, skies here had been relatively smoke-free until this last week. For the last several days, "dawn" has persisted for hours, the sun glowing red in the haze even after it was well up in the sky. All day long, the light coming in through the window has an orange cast, tinting my needlework and making it hard to distinguish thread colours. The Mountain is obscured by the smoke layer and even the nearby hills are veiled in dingy yellow gauze. The air is still, but even a stiff breeze would only move the smoke around because most of western Washington is experiencing the same conditions, fires burning in a chain along the Cascades from Canada to Oregon. Earlier in the season, I had thought we might escape this new and unhealthy summer standard. I will welcome the rains when they finally come, even though they come with their own set of problems related to our changing climate.

Crow Tree

Day 75: From their vantage point in the Crow Tree, the Breakfast Bunch can watch for activity at any of four locations where they might expect to find food spread for their enjoyment. Of the four, the most reliable spot is my "crow board" where daily handouts of dry dog food and table scraps are provided near dawn. As soon as they hear the door slide back or see me in the yard, the cawing commences, and before I'm back inside, they've gathered like a flurry of black snowflakes on the board, the fence and the ground. In between their scrabblings to gather beaksful of kibble, the Steller's Jays steal a few bites, but there's plenty to go around. No bird ever went hungry begging at my "table!"