John Burridge

Happy Equinox!  

We've had a few relatively smoke-free days, and when I checked this morning the Air Quality Index was something like 15 -- much better than the ten days of +400 readings we had after Labor Day.  

I felt so much better the other night when I stepped outside and I didn't have to worry about not wearing a particulate mask and I could see Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Capricorn.  The miasma that had settled over this end of the valley oppressed and depressed me -- I'm sure glad that I don't have some sort of breathing problem, because by the tenth day of the smoke I was ready to just curl up and sleep forever.

I can't imagine being a crow, eagle, hawk, osprey, hummingbird, heron, wren, or other flying thing sharing the sky with the smoke; I can't imagine being a squirrel, frog, raccoon, cat, dog, rabbit, deer, sheep, cow, newt, or other small creature picking through the ash-scape; I can't imagine being a grape, cherry, apple, rosemary, hornbeam, azalea, iris, lilac, laurel, pine, oak, or other leafy thing enduring a sun-block of burnt forest and houses.   

And I can't imagine why someone nearby would want to smoke a cigar right now and ruin an otherwise pleasant evening with their foul smoke.  I mean, honestly.  

Unfortunately, this isn't the last bad fire season we're likely to see (and I think the cigar smoker is a neighbor).  Fortunately, more wind and rain from the ocean is on our way, so we're in for a respite.  

On the plus side, the pair of hummingbirds who had discovered the fountain and come to bathe on top of the basalt column once or twice most mornings seem to be sticking around.  Aiofe bothers the cats so much that they don't venture into the yard, so the birds are safe from them for this season.  I've tried taking some photos of them as they rustle and flutter in the water, but so far I haven't managed clear shots.

Well, let's see. The West Coast has been on fire for a week and our skies havebeen Mordor Dark with a ruddy ember for a sun. It started late Labor Day Monday when Oregon got Santa Ana-style winds. A variety of fires in the Cascade Mountains got pushed down-slope into the easter Willamette Valley. Several mountain communities and towns have been burnt; there are a handful of fatalities. Eugene wasn't under evacuation orders, but parts of neighboring Springfield were.

The air quality index has been pushing 500 for at least the last five days; 250 is hazardous air quality for all populations.  0-50 is generally healthy, 100 starts to be problematic for sensitive groups.  The dog and cats don't understand why we won't let them outside.  Each morning, Mark takes a wet cloth and mops up the fine ash that has seeped in under our windows and doors.  Outside, cars, trees, the sidewalk, mailboxes, streetlights -- everything -- is covered with a fine layer of ash from pines and houses.

Supposedly, the smoke was to clear by last Wednesday; then Friday; then by this last weekend. If we're lucky, a new weather system will blow in Friday and we'll have blue skies -- or at least rain -- again.