Hazy Summer Morning

Past couple of nights have stayed very humid and soupy after days of oppressive conditions.  At 6:15 this morning the sky held a rosy hue hidden in the mountain fog.  Max and I sat out on the porch with our coffee in 73-degree tranquil air and listened to the last of the cicadas wind down their night cacophony.  A pileated woodpecker in a distant tree announced his presence and a coyote pup yipped from its cave in the side of the mountain.  In the garden, cucumber vines are giving us a dozen small cukes each day and with each visit to the garden, I yield another batch of chiggers burrowed under my skin.  They don't bother Cliff but they seem to love me.  I'm not bothered by them, don't itch, but have little red raised blotches all over my torso. 

Talked to Lauria and Jim last night.  Yuan Yuan is what  the nannies in the orphanage called Ben but I can't get the name to roll off my tongue as easily as Mom and Dad can.  Another day down for them and closer to coming home to their family next week.