Jobe waters the flowers – where are we?

When we loaded the boys into the car to bring them home on the day that Lavina went into surgery, I felt the heat and smelled the air and it reminded me of being a boy in summertime, living in the Lower 48. The weather this summer has just been unreal. It has not been like living in South-central Alaska at all. There were those 90° days in June and now for at least eight days running, maybe more, we have had temperatures either in the upper 70s or 80s. Our summers are just not like this. Yes, in a normal year we will get maybe five or six days in the 70s over the course of the whole summer, some summers not that much, some summers a bit more – but this? Where are we?

Jobe is right at home, watering flowers in the heat of summer. If he were to turn around, and walk to that gathering of bushes behind him, he could smell the roses. Alaska wild roses.