Day 154, 6/3/2011

A crowd gathers outside the Blue Loon to hear the Barenaked Ladies perform.

The Loon is a popular watering hole on the south side of town and hosts some of the best groups that make it to Fairbanks during their Summer Concert Series. This was an all ages outdoor show, consequently there’s a chain link fence separating the under and over 21 crowds. Matt and I, being over 21, had the pleasure of sitting next to a trio of hippie wannabes who were smoking skunk weed like it was their job. But determined to enjoy the evening (which by the way was just windy enough to make my teeth chatter) we opined that they were quite entertaining.

The concert was fantastic, and they played until about 11:30 PM, just after this photo was taken.

Day 155, 6/4/2011

The new grill.

Six words – I wish you could smell this.

Day 156, 6/5/2011

Penny and I went for a run this morning. Even after this area just experienced the third driest May on record, my dog manages to find a mud hole.

Day 157, 6/6/2011

A freshly planted marigold.

One of the few garden dwellers I can’t seem to kill.

Day 158, 6/7/2011

Can you believe these lovely roses just grow wild all over the place here?

I have them around the entire perimeter of my yard.

Day 159, 6/8/2011

Wild iris by the side of the road.

Day 160, 6/9/2011

Finally! Today we got a good, steady soaking rain that we desperately needed.

With 43 wildfires currently burning in Alaska, and most of them in the Interior, the last couple days have been very smoky. You know things are getting bad when you are sitting in a climate controlled office with all portals sealed, and all day long you feel like you should have a marshmallow on a stick.

Even though it’s rained steadily since yesterday afternoon, we still woke up to the strong smell of smoke this morning and a hanging miasma outside. 

It’s a fact of life here in the summer. The question is, will it be this way all summer?