Ash in the air

sun in smoky sky from Mt Tam
Though more than 100 miles away, smoke from the fires in Northern California make the light in the City eerie and wan.

Yesterday I was riding the #1 California bus thinking how odd it was that almost everyone had really bad dandruff - until I realized they all had ashes on their hair and shoulders ! Tiny bits of ash are floating in the air - coating everything. Many people have a cough (me, included) and have burning, tearing eyes.

Today - Sunday June 29th - is a little better - the fog rolled in yesterday and washed the air . But its still scary and strange - knowing that our forests are on fire - thousands of people are cutting the brush, dumping fire retardant from helicopters and yet, the fires still burn.

Having lived in the path of the 1976 Marble-Cone fire that consumed thousands of acres in the Los Padres Forest- I am sadly familiar with the devastation forest fires wreak. Once the fire is out - more problems start. If we have fierce rains, there will be mud slides. Not a promising year.

Comments