Alas, there is a forest fire caused by the lightning we had a few weeks ago. The fire is about 20 miles from here in a remote area down river. But the smoke from this fire is affecting us every day to a greater or lesser degree depending on the wind.

Usually in the mornings, things are better as the fire settles down at night a bit as the temperatures drop. This morning, I got up early to see a strange cloud formation to the East.

It's like someone was drawing a curtain over the sky. Very dramatic eh?

But it's gone now, at 2:30 in the afternoon, and the haze from the fire is blanketing the view. It's not anywhere as horrible as we have had in years past. But it's enough to keep me indoors, and the smell of the smoke is just alarming enough to make one's monkey brain very nervous. You can't help yourself, even if you know the fire is 20 miles away.

The weather people SAY we have a chance of thunderstorms for three days starting on Thursday. Sometimes storms will put out the fires, other times, it just starts new ones. Let us pray for the former.

I would dearly love to breathe clean air again...