Tag: smoke

Fiery Sunrise

This Labor Day weekend has been hotter than hell, setting records for heat (121 F in Los Angeles), and creating havoc. Fires are everywhere in California. So far we have been spared – but the smoke is filling the sky from fires hundreds of miles away, and ash is falling. The sunrises are beautiful because of it, but breathing it is not so beautiful! This morning, the sky was murky with a few clouds. Through it all came a fiery red sun.

I was a bit torn about editing this photo as I did – the sky is more lavender here than in reality. However, I am of the thought that the unreal quality I saw this morning is better expressed in unreal colors . . .

The 8th Day

Today we went to see how the sky looked after 8 days of wildfires in our area.  Earlier, the smoke was piled high into the sky, looking like an atom bomb had exploded nearby – a mushroom-shaped cloud on the horizon.  The air is brown and hazy.  Now, the wind has picked up, again with 60-80 mph gusts, and the clouds have flattened out.  This is the view from behind the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, looking west toward the cities of Ventura and further into Santa Barbara County where the coastal town of Carpinteria is being threatened.  While my in-laws are now home, friends elsewhere are in danger.  We await our turn . . . we have been lucky so far.

Burning

Today we went up to the Reagan Library to view the Thomas Fire from afar.  Here, you can see it from the hills around Santa Paula, California, past Ventura on the coast, moving toward Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County.  Nearly 200,000 acres have burned in 8 days through rough back country.  Valiant efforts by fire fighters from around the country are helping, but here and elsewhere in Southern California houses and animals and people are all suffering.