Notes from the Field: 22 September 2015

Giljalandi-Eldgjá-Giljalandi
I had a visit this morning from a mink. It came up two of three steps, looked about the porch and then headed toward the side of the cabin with that peculiar, humped gait all Mustelids have.
The sky was stunning last night. The Northern Lights were visible but were low in the horizon, muted and diffuse. The stars, on the other hand, were brilliant! I could see the Milky Way stretching across a crystalline void, innumerable constellations I’ve seen (and can’t name) and even more that I haven’t. What a treat to be in a place with so little light pollution and so little moisture in the air!

This morning, on the other hand, dawned like almost every other: foggy, cloudy, windy, rainy. I had hoped to drive up into the Highlands today and so I did – or at least I headed that direction until my way was barred by a stream, swollen by at least two weeks of rain, that I was simply unwilling to ford in my crappy little rental car.

I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and a nap a better way to spend the afternoon… And thus I did!