Wildfire

If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in the mirror, because I bet that's what really throws you into a panic.

~Jack Handey (Saturday Night Live)

I was working yesterday in my sauna of an office when my neighbor called from her car driving our direction. She was obviously quite excited about something and asked, "What's up with the fire?" Since it was hot, my blinds were closed to shield me from any afternoon heat. When I opened them, this is what I saw. As the last post contained enough profanity to last us a month, I will spare you from what I said. Because the wind was blowing the other direction, even though the fire was quickly spreading, it was headed away from our house. However, I did do a quick mental inventory of things to throw in the car in case the wind shifted. The lumbering rumble of borate bombers began over our house, casting eerie, floating shadows over the ground as they flew over and making me feel as if I was in a war movie. Brian witnessed one drop a scarlet cloud of fire retardant over the flames as he drove home from work.

It's funny because the last time my old neighborhood caught fire, I was also blissfully unaware of the orange flames shooting up through the trees less than one block away. My friend's husband called me and was surprised I was still at home. When I looked out the window, there were indeed flames snaking through the branches across the street, and soon firefighters had blocked off our little cul-de-sac, so there was nothing to do but watch and pray they knew what they were doing. I should probably look out the window more often!

This morning my throat is scratchy from breathing smoke all night, but there is only a thick, low-lying cloud of leftover haze obscuring the site of the blaze.

* Update 8:05 a.m. The wind has now shifted, bringing in choking clouds of smoke and haze. According to our local news, the fire is apparently not close to being contained, but they are still working on it. When I took the photo yesterday, it was at a mere 10 acres. It's now 200 acres! Thunderstorms are due this afternoon, which won't be helping things. So far, though, we are out of danger.

* 4:50 p.m. Fire 30% contained at 589 acres and looking good.