I too saw the red sun this morning and yesterday morning as we started out to work. It was a very smokey sky, from two bad fires. One is over 50,000 acres in Central Oregon, and the other started yesterday in the Columbia Gorge. It closed Highway 84 from Eastern Oregon to Portland, burned at least one home, one barn and one Bread & Breakfast establishment. So while the red sun in the morning here is beautiful, it was caused by some disastrous fires. The fire in Eastern Oregon is still burning, and when we saw it a week ago Sunday, it was at about 35,000 acres. My wife and I had climbed the South Sister, and viewed the fires between the North and Middle Sister mountains. The smoke covered most of Central Oregon northeast of the fires at that time. It was so thick north of Madras, Oregon that it blotted out the setting sun as we drove down into the Deschutes River Gorge on our way home to Beaverton on Highway 26. Now, a change in the wind has brought the B & B Complex fires' smoke to the Portland area. I've included a photograph I took off the top of the north rim of the South Sister so you can see what's going on out here. I feel for ChrisL and those other cyclists and people in Australia last year who talked about their fires.

I had several good commutes recently, but those two days after coming back off the mountain were tough. My thighs did now want to work

Today, I had a very good commute, and went to church after to attend a potluck dinner and choir practice thereafter.

It is warm, but not really uncomfortable for cycling here. We'll enjoy it while we can.

John