Early Morning Walks

Since sometime in June, North Central PA has been experiencing above normal temperatures and staggering humidity. We have endured sustained temperatures in the 90's and even consecutive days with triple digit temps, days with humidity in the 90% range, all of which are highly uncommon for this region of the country.

This makes it terribly difficult for me to be outside, as I have asthma and become short of breath, feeling as if the heat and humidity are sucking the air right out of my lungs. It is equally as hard on Kodiak, since Huskies have a double coat and can be easily overcome by heat.

Making sure "Kodi" gets plenty of exercise can be hard in the Summer time, when it's so hot. He often has to be coaxed just to go outside to do his 'business', as he's burnt his feet on the wooden deck floor and doesn't want to be exposed to the direct sunlight for very long, his black coat heating up quickly.

Evenings can be terribly humid, even more so than the day time, so evening romps through the backyard with a favorite toy are far and few between in the heat of Summer.

I've started setting the alarm for 6 a.m. I get up, go to the bathroom, get dressed, gear up "Kodi" and we try to get outside by 6:30 - 6:45 a.m.

On most days it's still foggy when we leave the house, some days everything is damp and dewy with the sun having just come up over the highway. Sometimes it's actually cool enough for me to need a jacket. "Kodi" is comfortable, I'm comfortable and there are very few people out so early in the morning that we seldom encounter anyone, we don't have to worry about little kids at all and there aren't many people walking their dogs at that time of day either. Traffic is at a minimum, so crossing streets is a lot easier than waiting until late morning or the evening.

It's been especially nice because we get to see a lot of nature's creatures and we can take the time to stop and 'literally' smell the flowers.

There have been mornings when "Kodi" has enjoyed the fluttering of butterflies around his head; tried to pounce grasshoppers who've hopped in front of him; stood on the dike and taken long sniffs of the breeze carrying the scent of a Loon and her babies to his nose; heard and watched a flock of Canada Geese fly overhead. We've followed the whistles of Cardinals in an effort to photograph them and watched as objects appeared through the fog, as it has lifted and burnt off. We've admired the soft pinks and purples of the sky as a backdrop to the lighted lampposts along the street and enjoyed the 'cooing' of morning doves perched above us on the power lines.

This morning, though the sun was already out, it was chilly. I put on a thermal zip jacket before leaving home and everything was covered with dew. It truly smelled and felt like Autumn, a time both "Kodi" and I are keenly looking forward to, when we can walk without care for the temperature, can enjoy the squirrels playing among fallen leaves and admire the beautiful colors of Fall. The onset of "Husky Weather", as we refer to Autumn and Winter.