I am scooping up the crickets that snuck into Making This Home this week. One by one, they pop into the bell jar. Let them chirp in there. You and I have things to share and discuss in this space!

This past week has been really hard. There’s really only one reason:

Those are the mountains around here. Those are the Rocky Mountains swallowed in smoke.

When the smoke gets this bad, you really don’t want to do anything. Except wish you were in the über green Berlin. ha! Energy is gone, so is passion.

We’ve managed to move Gadanke out of the tire house and into the airplane hangar. Insanely huge cheers for that! I’m still blinking my (now very bloodshot) eyes, wondering, “Is this real? Are these dreams really coming true?”

And why are some people’s dreams coming true out here this summer while others see nothing but the rise of smoke and flames from theirs?

I guess that’s the great mystery. Never before have I felt so fortunate. Now out you go, little crickets.