July 6

In Michigan

Today was the perfect summer sky, from sunrise to sunset, the color and clarity of which we only imagine when the steel gray winter skies take hold.

The sun rose at 6:20 am, which is notably later than our Paxton time. It is diorienting to be in the western edge of this eastern time zone, and particularly so far north in latitude (Michigan is roughly 46 degrees north at our cottage, while Paxton is 42.5 degrees). The net effect is a later rising of the sun but a notably later setting.

The sun crested just above the sweet grass field that predominates the old MacArthur farm here, a slightly hazy red glow, made so by the humidity of the dew emanating from the fields. We stood to watch its rise and caught a glimpse of two sandhill cranes silently making passage within the grass, stopping only once to squawk a warning cry at our presence.

Throughout the day, as the sun arched across, the sky became a deeper blue and uniformly so, with no clouds at all to mar the range from horizon to horizon. As I write this, the sun is closing within a few degrees of setting, and the sky has taken on a yellow and orange halo near its point of exit. It is nearly 9:00 pm, and the twilight will linger for almost an hour past, gently fading and giving way to the summer stars – Arcturus first over head and then Venus above the western horizon, still rising to its apex hence.

It will be crystal clear this evening, and the stargazing should be sublime.