On the Feast of Mary Magdalene

Temperature went down to 30 this morning. Fortunately, by the time I was out and about, the frost had given way to warmth. It did not, however, kill the mosquitoes who were seeking revenge for the weather. Cleared brush around the church. Heard an amazing life story from a beautiful old woman with two dogs, one of whom, "Misty" looked like a short coated version of Chinook. (For those of you unfamiliar with my life story, Chinook, Fairbanks born and bred, was my canine companion in high school and college and the one that got me into Alaska in the first place.) Delivered dinner to John down the street, walked down to the bridge with eleven kids, and spent the time I usually write getting my origami skills back up to snuff. A group of us went for a late night walk and watched outsized clouds gather over the river and burst open about twenty miles to the south. The Yukon flowed calm. A surprising outbreak of spiders, so I told everyone the myth of Athena and Arachne. The sun slipped behind the hill at 10 p.m. Days definitely getting shorter.

Our firefighters arrive home from Siskiyou County on Sunday, just when we have church. As a grateful Californian, I'm planning a Litany of Thanksgiving and a procession to the airport to welcome them home. Small world.

And now I'm off to bed. Blessings.