Hello Everyone,
While the world watches the hurricanes Montana is a burning inferno, and there are many fires in ID, OR, WA, and CA also. The air quality near Spokane has been "Very Unhealthy to Hazardous" for about a week. The photo below was taken last week, note the haziness of the sky. By last weeks standards we thought this was pretty smokey.
The beautiful sunflowers are in bloom.
*photo by M. Baker
The difference a week makes...
*photo by M. Baker
The photos are from the same field from a different angle, and my friend actually captured the color of the air here.
It is normal for the Sunflowers to "hang their heads" after blooming with the difference in the air conditions it makes for an interesting photo.
On a personal note it feels kind of strange to breath this mess and just keep on doing normal things. It feels odd in that there is really nothing anyone can do about it. My anxiety is high although we have nothing to fear where I am located,the smoke is just making me feel anxious and on edge, and a bit suffocated. I know there are many dealing with harsher situations by far. One of my normal coping tool is deep breathing. The delight of sucking in what smells like campfire smoke is not as calming as fresh air. :)
We are on high fire alert and we are not to operate a lawn mower or use an outdoor BBQ, and most are staying indoors as much as possible.
Meanwhile, I have a lot of Montana friends who are currently displaced or packed and ready, and oddly enough the smoke is helping to fight the fires, as it chokes out the fires and keeps the temperatures down. Many of the fires are in areas where they are difficult to fight and they will just burn until Winter puts them out. At this time, with all of our technology and tools, Mother Nature still seems to be winning this round.
