Monday, June 30, 2008

Blood Orange Sun

Even before the lightening strikes that occurred during the Relay for Life event on June 21st, our air quality was pretty bad. Then it got worse. Here in the valley we were caught in the middle with fires stretching from this side of the Coastal Range to the Sierra. You could look outside and it would leave you with an eerie feeling. There would be a thick blanket of smoke. My eyes have itched, been irritated, and have watered off and on. I have caught myself holding my breath, not wanting to inhale this bad air. But, you have to breathe. I have taken some pictures of the sun setting and rising. There, you can see the gray matter in the sky. Today we could actually see the first glimpse of blue sky. Oh, how I have missed the sky! During this past week I have often thought of what it must have been like or would be like if we had a real disaster like the Chernobyl disaster. I have noticed the effect not being able to see the sky has had on me both emotionally and psychologically. I could only imagine... and not wanting to breathe the air.


This was taken at 8:02 P.M. on Saturday night.


This was taken at 6:43 A.M. the next morning.


This was taken today at 7:24 P.M. and you can see the sky but...


at 7:50 P.M. just a several minutes later, you can see that there is still quite a haze coverage. There is a nice breeze tonight. I am hoping that it will blow the rest of it away. BUT, not flame any fires!

We are only getting the smoke... my heart goes out to the people who have been touched in a more personal way. I am also grateful to the fire department and all of the volunteers that have fought these fires.

4 comments:

  1. I had the same thoughts....
    my son is a fire fighter.
    The photos look nice though.

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  2. I was reminded of a series of books I read a long time ago about a blood red planet with two red suns when I looked at your picture. Is there anything worse than fire, flood and natural diseasters! Such devestation spread such a long way. We had skies like you have in your pictures after Mt. St. Helen's back in the 70' or 80's. Scary stuff.

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  3. We are seeing it on the news. Julie's husband is in the reserves, and they cancelled a trip to Mississippi due to the fires in case they need the reserves for that.

    I miss you!! Will try to email you this week. Things are Good!

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  4. I can't wait to see the clear sky
    I too am grateful to all the fire fighters we have some friends who are in that line of work.
    your photos amaze me my dear!


    hugs to all of you


    love

    ReplyDelete