For the first time in years (literally!) we didn’t set an alarm and slept until the late hour (for us) of 7:00 a.m.  The timing was perfect to see the narrow opening between the gray, smudgy sky and the horizon — a strip of clear sky and sunshine!  WOOT!  WOOT!  (and then some!)  It lasted but a few moments.  But it was enough to give us hope.

Neither Nyel nor I have ever thought that we suffered from SAD — Seasonal Affective Disorder.  But, truth to tell, even with all the rain here in the Northwest, “normal” weather patterns include spates of sunshine now and then.  The old saying, “Tired of the weather?  Just wait a minute…” is a truism hereabouts — a fact of life, I’ve never fully appreciated until this autumn.

For countless days now,  (four? six?  I’ve truly forgotten), we have slogged through our chores, as well as our celebrations and treats, enveloped in thick gray smudge.  It seems to be odorless as well as colorless (if you can call gray colorless) and we assume it is caused by the fires in Oregon and California.  Someone said that above this layer of  foggy, cloudy gray, there is a big layer of smoke and, because of the weather patterns (partly cause by those same fires), there has been no wind to move the sun-sheilding layers away.

Whatever the reason, it has taken its toll on this household, bit by bit.  Fortunately, we’ve had a few grand distractions.  Friday we celebrated (socially distanced etc. etc.) Charlie Talbott’s retirement with a Garden Gathering.  Yesterday, we celebrated Tucker and Carol’s 50th wedding anniversary (socially distanced etc. etc as well.)  Bright spots in an otherwise gray world.

Perhaps today sun will really break through.  We can only hope…