So much depends on the sun this time of year. This morning, it appeared early over Gastineau Channel and then moved behind a band of clouds. They were too thin to totally obscure the sun, but they did reduce its candle power to that of a full moon.  Aki and I could postpone our morning walk to see if the sun will rise about the clouds. But I don’t trust the clouds not to eventually block the entire sky. So the little dog and I head out to the Sheep Creek delta in semi-darkness.

Three or four eagles glide over the channel. One stands next to the creek facing the rising sun. Nearby gulls ignore the eagle. But when it takes flight, it flushes a raft of mallards into half-hearted flight.

The rising sun brings a wind that blows the little dog and I off the delta. Aki doesn’t mind. It means we have more time for her favorite walk in front of the old ore house. On the beach a man messes about with a thrown-together gold dredging operation while his pit bull invites Aki over for a sniff.

When the sun finally muscles its way to the upper edge of the clouds it brings clarity to the stream, allowing me to make out individual ducks and gulls.  Just before the sun breaks into the clear, the circle of light that it formed in the clouds expands and a rainbow-like sundog forms above the Douglas Mountain Ridge.