A walk yesterday in air so thick I felt wrapped in cotton wool. One of my favorite trails has become less shady as trees have aged and toppled. It’s the perennial story here as the old giants teeter and fall, the ones in our yard like losing old friends.

I thought yesterday on my walk that the path I used to think of as mostly shady is now partly sunny. Our backyard is like that, too. More patchwork than monotone.

Nothing wrong with this. It’s just a matter of shifting focus and expectations. It’s a loss … but also a gain.