Smoke in the Sky~

 When I think of the forests burning in Canada, it makes me sick...  The wind shifted two-days ago.  South winds had continued to bring us day after day of record-breaking heat.  Tuesday evening, the wind shifted & with the shift came blessedly cooler air from the north.  In a matter of a couple hours the temperature dropped from the 90's to the 70's.  It was a relief, but not for long...  Heavy smoke from the fires up north moved in with it...

287th Newly paved, into Silver City

Wednesday morning dawned with heavy overcast skies & a thick layer of smoke.  Our low for the night was 47 degrees, a sure sign of fall.  Today, the smoke was a little less & the sun had returned.  It had been over a week since I'd made it out for a ride.

Fields of Golden Corn~

I was ready for some time on the trail & the illusion anyway of fresher air.  The corn is already drying & turning the golden brown of the season.  The afternoon was warming into the high 70's but seemed cool in comparison to the 90's of last week!  

Silver Creek, low~

At the river, the bottom is in view.  Water levels have dropped since the rains we'd received in July.  The smoke was obvious on the horizon.  At the park, I took my usual break to call Butch.  He ended up sitting the day.  The delivery date on his dispatch was off by 24-hours.  He took the opportunity to get in a reset.  He only had 20-hours left on his 70-hour clock.

Break spot~

The grass in the park is turning brown, as are our lawns...  Ours at home had been the so beautifully green.  Even with increased watering - it too - is showing many spots of brown.  

There had been no other cars in the parking area when I'd left Happy Trails & I'd only seen two other riders on the trail, I think the smoke was a deterrent.

Fields of Gold~

At least the Goldenrod & sunflowers are in full bloom.  Providing blazing shades of yellow for quite a distance of the trail, at the northern edge of Malvern!  I stopped again to get a photo of the corn against a smoke gray, hazy sky.

Drying corn & heavy smoke~

I made my best time of the year on my ride today.  Looking back at my stats from previous years, it was last September Smokey & I set our record for speed.  I'm within a fraction of it now - but haven't gotten in the ride days I had by this time last year.  Of course, my record is nowhere near what most riders do, but I enjoy the personal challenge.

West toward Glenwood on Gaston Rd.~

I stopped to chat with Mari Jo before heading home.  The shop has been busy & she's had some interesting repairs.  Now that we're nearing fall, it seems like the summer months have flown by.  Only another few weeks & Happy Trails will close for the season.

The smoke was even heavier, than it had been earlier in the day, by the time I turned for home.  It was a beautiful evening, but would have been more so without the smoke.  Our forecast is for a weekend back in the 80's, but a wonderful cool down to the 70's with rain chances next week.  I'm looking forward to both!