It's hard to recall that in the years before our retirement, long after our children left home to strike out on their own, both Irving and I spent at least an hour each way every weekday taking public transit to our places of employment. Bedtime was around 10:00 pm and we'd set the alarm for 6:30 am, have a hurried breakfast, shower, dress and scoot out the door to catch a bus for the hour it would take to get to work. And then repeat the ritual in reverse.

We seldom go up to bed now before midnight, and mindful of at least an eight-hour sleeping period, we arise at a much later hour than of  yore. Correction: we awake, and take our sweet time rising. Jackie and Jillie, leap all over us as soon as we utter a word. They sleep quietly as long as we do. Once we're no longer asleep they demand attention, tails wagging like metronomes. 

As for hurrying with our showers, no such thing. Much less rushing through breakfast. We savour the food we eat, and take our time  eating it. And breakfast time is the perfect time to catch up on the day's news; it's why we have two newspapers delivered every morning. By the time we shift ourselves away from the breakfast table, it's comfortably late in the morning. 

By which time we've also been outside in the backyard with Jackie and Jillie at least three times. To enjoy whatever weather there is, to mark whatever changes there have been in the continually evolving garden as a ritual of pleasurable occupation. Jackie and Jillie will tolerate being out in the backyard just so long and no longer. Usually they bolt out the glass doors immediately they're slid open in a frantic bid to catch any critturs bold enough to make themselves comfortable in THEIR backyard. It looks as though a pair of robins might have considered building a nest in the supports under the deck, as happened once before. Our two little bullies will chase squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons and birds just to let them know who 'belongs' and who doesn't.

Irving had gone out yesterday afternoon on one of his famous little shopping trips and made a number of stops. Among other things he brought back, a tub of cream cheese. And as often happens that meant we now had two tubs since we'd already bought one and it hadn't yet even been opened. Solution to my wondering what I'd bake for dessert. A cheesecake came immediately to mind. And I could use 2/3 of the pint of fresh blueberries I'd bought to top the cheesecake with a glaze, saving the remainder to include in Sunday's waffles.

Last night the air quality index hit the top of the 'danger' chart. Today it moderated from 10+ to 7 (we're usually below 3), so not too good, but not disastrous. Not to disappoint Jackie and Jillie, we set off for the ravine in mid-afternoon under a deeply-hazed sky. A humid day but not a hot one, unlike yesterday. We stayed out on a little longer circuit than we did yesterday just so we wouldn't be breathing in those micro particulates for longer than might be recommended. 

Despite the warnings being issued by health authorities, we haven't felt any deleterious effects that we could readily recognize afflicting us with our exposure to the polluted atmosphere. Of course there are likely to be effects we're not aware of that could conceivably impact our lungs on a longer-term basis. However, the exercise our limbs are exposed to, the pleasure of being out in the forest, the interest in seeing the vegetation change day by day, hearing birds sing and seeing bees and butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies flitting among the wildflowers is a treat of many dimensions.