The clouds lift this morning, just after sunrise. They revealed Mt. Juneau and the Douglas Mountain Ridge white with new snow. Aki and I drove up to a mountain meadow. From Gastineau Channel we could see the sun burning off the remaining clouds. Some lingered in the valley we drove through to reach the meadow, glowing with backlit sunshine. 

       Even though it was only 10 A.M. the sun had already drifted between a gap in the ridge and disappeared. This time of year, the sun couldn’t linger more than an hour on the meadow.  But sunlight still brightened the jumble of mountains that rose up on the east side of the meadow. 

       Aki has always loved walks over snowy ground. This morning she seemed more reserved than usual, staying near rather than running orbits around me. Just before we returned to the car she took off, following tracks down the meadow. She still answered my summons, undulating like a porpoise through the fresh snow.