Ashes, Ashes

Last night I could smell fire, but it smelled like a faint trace of fireplace fire so I didn't think much of it aside from wondering why people need a fire in 75F weather. After lots of sleep, I went outside around noon to cure some UV-setting glass glue and the sun was bright and the air was clear, although the wind is gusty enough to rip the dust cover off my patio bench for the first time in months. Around 3pm, I could smell more fireplace-smelling fire, and the quality of the light on my patio put me in mind of a solar eclipse - dim, reddish light. I went outside to check on the 'eclipse' and found the air full of orange smoke. I could stare right at the sun, which was a dark red to my eye, but a red corona for the camera.


The pictures kind of show what I see, but don't quite capture the ash falling from the sky. I've pulled out my sandblasting respirator to take with me in the car, just in case, while I run errands. I keep mentioning the fireplace smell because the last time a local hill was on fire, it smelled Nasty, not cosy with an urge to roast marshmallows. Although this is starting to be very heavy smoke, none of it is coming out of my chimney, pictured here.


From the pictures I just saw on the news, the fire is still over in Malibu and not likely to jump several mountain peaks and come eat my condo. There are several muliti-million dollar places and a mountain range between the fire and me, so I am hopeful that I don't have anything to worry about. I haven't heard any of our state bird (helicopters) flying overhead, which means it's too windy to fly, or the fire isn't that close. But the smoke certainly is. All the lights that turn on when it gets dark have turned on. Yet as I look outside, it's getting brighter, aka less smoky, as I write this.