Changes in Light

You know global warming is really kicking in when a day of temperatures in the "normal" range feels cool. That’s the case this morning. It was 65F when I got up, the normal low temperature for this day of the year, and it feels wonderful.

I am now back to using a headlamp in the mornings when I take Dog for his walk. I don’t need it all the time. When I’m in the open, I can turn it off, but when I’m under the canopy of the trees, I need it for the first 10-15 minutes of our daily walks.

The sun’s light is changing in other ways, too. The sunrise is further south along the eastern horizon than it was just a few weeks ago. In the mornings, I can still see stars when I first go outside. I take my daily photos as I’m heading to work, an hour or so after my morning walks, and I’m starting to notice that the light is pretty flat and dull. After this week, I am likely going to have to give up trying to take morning photos in the woods. I'll have to restrict my morning photos to things that are out in the open, where the light will still be good enough for perhaps another week or two. By the first of September I'll be taking my photos in the evenings for posting on the next day, so my photos will no longer be as current as they are in the summer.

Little changes every day soon add up to big changes. In case I even try to forget that, the spinning of the year reminds me every day.

Baby Dog is now at Day 13 since she’s seen the fox, and she still stops in that same spot every morning to look for it. Baby Dog is hyper aware of any change in her surroundings. I call her the town cop. If the neighbor parks four feet away from where he usually parks, she has to bark at the car because in her mind it’s not where it should be. She barks at the cats when she thinks they’re doing something they shouldn’t. Yesterday, I got a mail order of two books that came in a box. The cats always have to investigate a new box, but Baby Dog thought this was an infringement of the house rules and that they should be tattled on. She will be 2 years old in 5 days.