Smoked Out....

 Our home right now is absolutely NOT the most scenic epic place that we feel it is for most the year. This is primarily because it is fire season. Most years this only leads to a few smoky days or weeks of the summer from the wild fires. However, this late July and August have been pretty bad, and unfortunately we can probably expect the smoke until it rains in the Fall.
Because of a pretty big fire burning close to us, our local Willow Creek park has turned into an incident command center for fire fighters across the Western US. 

Fire fighter tents

Fires, of course, are scary! It is a huge looming fact of life every summer that we could potentially have a fire, or as in this case, multiple fires, very close to our home. Perhaps, even, threatening our home. Right now we are not in the situation of our home being threatened, yet.... Just one week ago a new fire was lit by a crazy lightning storm just over our nearest ridge. It is now 3,000 acres and not contained at all. Driving home last week I could actually see the flames on the mountain side.
SCARY!!!!
But for now, it's just smoke, and a lot of it. Some mornings or afternoons you just barely notice its presence. And other days, like today, it's so thick you can barely see the hill in front of you, everything outside is covered in a layer of ash, you smell it in everything, and the spooky orange glow and burning eyes just plain wear you out. Fires of course can be good for the land, and it is the very fact that the natural land has NOT burned in decades, or more, that of course makes every fire we have all the more scary. In dry years like this year it just has that likelihood of being a very bad burn that can get out of hand, take structures, and be very unpredictable.

Lots of helicopter action for the little boys to ooo and ahhh at

 Most days of the year we probably have better air quality than most of the state of California. So I can still be thankful for that and for the fact that our home is not in any imminent danger...this too shall pass I guess... and of course we are VERY thankful for all of the fire fighters that have traveled a LONG way away from their homes to help us keep our homes safe.