Where did summer go? I spent most of it outdoors trying to keep two goats on my property. Once they ate through enough briars to discover weak areas of the fence, they found their way to my neighbor's flower garden up the hill. A widow in her 80's, that flower garden is her pride and joy and she doesn't take kindly to two goats deadheading and pruning everything without permission. We're replacing the last section of bad fencing this week, so I'm hoping to have more time for other things.
This week, we've had to work indoors more as thick smoke from local wildfires is blanketing the area. It's amazing how much effect smoke has on the temperature. Today was supposed to be sunny and 89 degrees. Instead, it looks like a foggy day at sunrise and is cold enough that a sweatshirt doesn't keep me warm.
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The photo above was taken about 3 p.m. of the skyline south of me. The sky should be blue with evergreen trees bathed in sunshine.
The photo above is the east side of the property. Again, it looks like a typical foggy day, but the smell of smoke tells a different story. The photo below, taken from a different angle, shows what it was like yesterday when it was supposed to be 100 degrees but barely made it to 70. I don't notice the smell of smoke so much today, but I start coughing if I forget and take a deep breath outdoors. It's better indoors even though I don't have central air or anything like that.
Fine particles of ash fall from the sky, but it's nothing like what we experienced when Mt. St. Helens blew its top. Currently, there are fires up and down the Cascade Mountain range from the Portland area to Roseburg. There are also fires in the Siskiyous between Ashland and Medford, and another in the Coos Bay area. Several small communities in the foothills have reportedly burned to the ground. Larger towns and cities, like Springfield, have been put on level 1 evacuation notice. We deal with wildfires every summer in Oregon, but they've never come this close to populated areas.
