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| 8/6/26 Skyline from Maple Leaf Park (As easily as I use brightly colored Uglybooks for everyday sketches, this is one time I wanted white paper. Fortunately, I always have a Field Notes in my daily-carry.) |
It was Day 4 of our smoky skies. Not nearly as bad as some smoke days we’ve had, when I could sketch the red sun with my bare eyes, it
was still rated “unhealthy” by my air quality app. Still, like the previous three
days, I went out for abbreviated fitness walks, telling myself I wouldn’t
prolong exposure by sketching (and yet each time I did).
From Maple Leaf Park, I can usually see the city skyline distinctly, but behind the sickly yellow haze, it looked smudgy. Beyond that smoke, I knew the sky was blue, and it pained me to waste another beautiful day not being able to sketch outdoors.
But I can’t talk about pain. For that, we need to go to Spokane, where 700 homes and other structures have been lost, and 60,000 residents have had to evacuate to escape the blazes. This is no ordinary wildfire with natural causes, however; authorities now believe the source was arson.
Definitely achieved that smoky look. So many of the fires burning have been due to arson. I don't understand people that do that!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's crazy and so scary.
DeleteAll that smoke from the Spokane fires is funneling right into my area around Sandpoint. I've been masking up for evening walks if the air quality is moderate, staying inside as it ramps up higher. It's in the purple "very unhealthy" range today, I can't see the mountains less than 2 miles away and could see from my window that smoke was into the trees tops at the end of the block. I keep the house shut up and generally try not to run the a/c because it draws air from the outside and I'm sure it's not filtering everything out.. Yet I think smoke has seeped into my house anyway so have been circulating air - I think it has helped. But my house is still standing, my whole immediate area untouched by fire unlike so many people's in Spokane. So I'm not really complaining but am feeling a bit of doom hanging over me. I went to college at Whitworth so know the part where the fires are pretty well, although neighborhoods have grown up since I lived there. The pictures have been stunning and unbelievable, the number of evacuees difficult to wrap my head around. And new fires are popping up in eastern WA and OR every day. A hellish summer that is far from over.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear how bad it is for you! I've only experienced "very unhealthy" once (several years ago), and it was indeed hellish. It's so oppressive to even look out the windows. Take care!
DeleteI am so sorry for Spokane. I was in Poway during the fires of 2003 and 2007, so I know the fear and angst of watching the flames come closer. There were also many people who died when trapped in their valley, though not as many as in Paradise. So, while I feel the pain of those who lost homes, I am so relieved every time I check to see no loss of life so far. At least as far as I know.☹️ Anne HwH
ReplyDeleteI, too, have been relieved that no lives have been lost. The daily news photos of the devastation are so heartbreaking.
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