We stare blankly out our windows at the orange-red pall that has blanketed us the last several days, watching the ash fall like snow, wondering when the winds will shift. And yet there is a feeling of guilt since a change in wind will simply mean others will get the smoke.
I’ve already had two calls this morning from family back east wondering if we are OK as they watch reports of the fires on TV. Western Oregon is now making headlines as California did (and still is) last week. It has been drier. It has been hotter. There are more fires.
I answer that yes, we are still OK, unlike thousands of others who are closer to or have already been overtaken by the flames. The closest fire is still thirty miles away. The winds might shift. We might get some rain.
But inside I really think that no, we are not OK. We are not OK any more than the people on the gulf coast dealing with more intense hurricanes, or the people on the east coast dealing with hotter summers and intense humidity. Or the increasing number of people contracting Lyme disease as tick populations expand with warming temperatures. Or the families suffering terribly from the current pandemic. Or the wildlife populations declining at a frightening rate as we destroy their habitat along with ours.
No, we are not OK. None of us are.
-Russ
(Photo courtesy of Steve Schuetz)
Random Thoughts 