Inhale

The air has been smoky since Sunday. A large fire got started in the mountains about 90 miles south of here on Saturday and has been spreading ever since. It has burned about 9000 acres so far, and is only 5% contained, so it's apt to be with us for quite a while unless we get a very large rain storm, which is extremely rare in September or even October. I know as soon as I smelled it Sunday morning that it was a forest fire a considerable distance off, as the smoke had the slightly sweet smell that pine wood smoke gets when it's had a chance to mellow.

A smaller fire a bit closer, and on less rugged land, is already almost contained. A good-sized fire that started yesterday about 120 miles north of here has already devoured quite a few houses and other buildings around the lumber town of Weed, but I don't think we're smelling any of the smoke from that one. It's the one in El Dorado County that's stinking the place up.

September and October are usually the worst fire months in California, so there's nothing surprising about the current fires. We were lucky to have so little smoke in July and August, and September was almost half over when the current fires got started, so we're actually doing pretty well. But even if no new fires get started, it's now pretty much written in stone that early autumn is going to be stinky this year, and the light is going to have that yellowish cast it gets when the air is full of smoke. It could bring some pretty nice sunsets, though, and the moon could be a vivid orange when it rises, so it's not all downside.

When I went out an hour or so ago there was a woodpecker hammering away at a nearby tree. I couldn't see the bird, but the sound was clear. The bird has no idea. Lucky bird.

Refreshed

The wind shifted and by early afternoon all the smoke from the forest fire had been blown away. The remainder of the day was quite pleasant, despite a high temperature in the low nineties. I just kept to the shade when I went out, and the breeze that had removed the smoke was fresh and clean. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler, and there's a very good chance that we will get thunderstorms tomorrow night and Thursday. I hope the lightning doesn't start any more fires. There probably won't be enough rain to help with those we've already got.

The supermarket ads come out tomorrow and I get to plan my weekly grocery shopping. Oddly, though I dislike shopping I love planning to shop. Wednesday morning I go to the web sites and see what's on sale, and I make out a list, which usually turns out to be the high point of the day. There are always disappointments when things I'd like to buy are not on sale, but there are always pleasant surprises when some bargain I hadn't expected to get shows up. Too bad I have to actually go to the stores to get the stuff.

It's not yet eight o'clock, when I can go out and water, and the night is already very dark. I was going to water the back yard early today, but I didn't wake up until well after nine o'clock, and the regulations require the watering to be done by ten. What I need this time of year is some sort of flashlight attachment to my garden hose. Then I wouldn't end up watering some bare patch because I can't see the plants, or watering myself because I'm trying to manage the hose and a conventional flashlight at the same time.

Four minutes to go. I might as well get out there.