Then at 2:30 a.m, we had an unrelated medical emergency. I didn't have my camera on the way to the E.R. (who thinks to bring their camera to the E.R.?), but it was crazy to see the glowing embers in V-shapes all along the south side (our side) of the mountain range. The fire had gotten a lot closer, and apparently, they really can't do the aerial water dumps and so forth at night. In the beams of our headlights as we sat at what seemed like every stoplight on the empty streets between here and Montrose, bits of ash drifted like snow flurries. Eerie.
Things were resolved at hospital. Things should be alright. But obviously, last night was considerably more traumatic than anticipated, and sleep was lost. By the time we returned home, the smoke was so thick that we had to turn off the air conditioning despite the heat. At seven, when I let Violet out to pee, the whole sky around our house was the color of orange sherbet. The air felt thick. Ash was settling on my plants, which are sadly suffering from the dryness, heat, and my efforts at water conservation. I'm not sure that my newly potted Australian Tree Fern is going to make it.
These pictures are from between noon and about two o'clock today. The smoke has started drifting away from us more, so you can kind of stand to breathe. Some people we see are wearing masks, though.
Above: view of my house from across the street. Below: view from my back yard over the rear fence.
Finally, below, our friendly neighborhood Scientologists catch this view when visiting the Mission of the Foothills Dianetics Center in downtown Montrose (the white and green building). We were on our way back from a delicious lunch at La Cabanita, which helped ease some recent tensions, when I grabbed this shot.
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