This has been one long hot smoky summer. I got burned out writing about smoke and fire, but then one of the largest fires in California history (
The Rim Fire) started burning about 125 miles south of us. That's not very close, until the wind blows out of the south and our air gets smokier than we've ever seen it. The above pic is a screen grab of what the air quality map looked like on Saturday morning. It was bleak, and yes, unhealthy.
And here's what that air looked like when we went into town to shop at the co-op. It's what everyone is talking about. Like a crazy slow motion disaster, it goes on and on and on. The cashier says, "Take it easy out there, it's like smoking 20 packs of cigarettes today."
What else is there to write about? Well, we've been freezing batches and batches of tomato sauce. Roger has been painting the exterior of the sauna to match the house paint. There have been flocks of migrating warblers in the oak trees. When I went out to take some photos, I found this female Western Tanager. One of my all time favorite birds! Such a treat. Wished I'd seen the male. He's quite a stunning beauty.
Roger found
what we think is a j
uvenile skink a young Northwest Alligator lizard (thank you for the ID, Bev!) in our bathroom. It was hiding under the scale in a dusty little corner. It dropped the tip of its tail when Roger caught it. That tail wiggled on the ground like a perfect distraction. Pretty crazy to see. We set it free on the deck and it high-tailed it out of sight in a hurry.
Yes, it has been one long hot smoky summer.
I think the reptile is probably a young Northwest Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea principis). Check out this page and compare to the young lizard on the far right of the second row of images.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/e.c.principis.html
Yes! You're right, Bev. It is a young Northwest Alligator Lizard. I was hoping someone would be able to ID this little cutie! Thank you!
DeleteThe most recent description of the size of the Yosemite Rim fire I saw claimed it was comparable to the city of Chicago. Can you imagine that place burning down?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Atlanta area is awash and sodden. Gotta wonder what will happen next with the Jet Stream...
The Rim Fire is growing at a crazy pace. Now some of the most ancient Sequoia Redwoods are at risk. This breaks my heart.
DeleteI wish there was a reliable model that would predict the future of global climate change. I want to move where there's going to be WATER.
"high-tailed it out of sight," no pun intended, right?
ReplyDeleteHey, seriously, if you want to come down here for a day to get out of the smoke, you are most welcome. We could walk around Capitol Park, have a picnic there if it's not too hot. Think about it. That sky looks positively deadly.
Pun absolutely intended!
DeleteThank you so much for the invite. We're going to stay here and watch the drama unfold. Can't take my eyes off the sky anymore.
I hope the fire burns out or the winds blow it another direction soon. My lungs couldn't take that and I'm sure yours can't take much more.
ReplyDeleteThe air is only bad for few hours at a time. Saturday was the worst. Right now, Monday at 5:23 pm, the air is beautiful and clear. We didn't even turn on the air conditioner today!
Deletekeep hoping for news of CA relief. glad you've had a break here and there. with my tendency toward asthmatic bronchitis, i'd end up on oxygen
ReplyDeletedo you make salsa with your tomatoes, too?
Roger made a batch of salsa just the other day. He made it with our homegrown jalapeno peppers and new (for us) pepper called a Red Rocket. Hot hot hot!
DeleteWow, think how bad that would be on someone who all ready smokes cigarettes. So glad you are getting some clear days.
ReplyDeleteI have thought about you and the fires and just glad the destructive part is south of you. Stay safe.
That lizard is adorable even if he is a little short. Clever adaptation.
Thank you for thinking of us. It's been interesting watching these fires grow. Crazy times in California.
DeleteYou have been much in my thoughts as I read about the fires. Hope the air is soon fresh and clear all day.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the mornings have been the worst times here. It has to do with where the air settles at night. We have been lucky, the smoke usually clears by noon. The Rim Fire is really pretty scary, but only has an impact on us depending on the way the wind blows.
DeleteBig fires like that can really make things unpleasant. We went to Yellowstone about six years ago in the fall, and fires made what would otherwise have been a beautiful, deep, blue sky into something more like what we see near Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteisabelita, we live about an hour northwest of Atlanta, and we have not had serious rain for a good while.
There really is something about the skies in the high country. Bluer than most other places I've ever lived. Deep, clear, and beautiful. I hope you and Leah travel west again and see the skies at their best.
DeleteGreat post, Robin Andrea; lots of diverse news I hadn't realized you were as far north as you are.
ReplyDeleteIt's really neat about the skink dropping its tail as a distraction. The only interesting thing Kali and I ever found under our bathroom scale was a scorpion. This was when we lived in central Florida (1981-88). I was at work, and Kali (who was finishing her dissertation at the time) called me to tell me that there was a scorpion in the bathroom. I said something like, "Yeah. Right." But, when I got home, I saw that Kali had closed the door to the bathroom and that, sure enough, there was a scorpion on the floor. I quickly escorted it outside in a jar.
Is Roger painting to make the property more salable?
We are pretty far north, and interestingly there's a good 300 miles more to go before we'd hit the Oregon border!
DeleteI think I'd rather see a lizard or skink in the bathroom than a scorpion. Although, I wouldn't mind seeing a scorpion sometime, somewhere outside!
Roger is actually finishing up on a job started a while ago. He built the sauna when he was doing chemo back in 2010. It needed some touch up on the trim. Yes, partly for selling, partly for our own aesthetic!
Our old locale is in the line of fire. No regrets about selling our place in Twain Harte in 2001...Crazy!
ReplyDeleteI thought of you when I saw that Twain Harte might be in trouble. Such a big, destructive fire. Sad.
DeleteStay safe. Thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that.
DeleteStill thinking frequently of you and everyone, including all the trees and creatures, affected by the fires. Especially anyone living there who gets migraine headaches from smoke. All it takes is a little campfire smoke or woodstove smoke or even a smoky candle for me to get severe headaches.
ReplyDeleteI remember the lizards who drop their tails. Sweet to see the female Tanager.
Interesting that you mentioned headaches. I had a headache Friday and Saturday night. They were TERRIBLE. I think the smoke contributed to the pain.
DeleteIf you haven't looked at Bad Astronomy at Slate today:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/08/29/time_lapse_video_colorado_wildfire.html
This is some amazing time-lapse photography of a Colorado wild fire. At about 2:30 in the video you can see a little water cloud form over the top of a huge billow of smoke from the fire. Phil Plait mentions this type of cloud in his article.
Fantastic footage, Mark. Thank you for the link. There are several videos of the extremely large Rim Fire on yubanet.com and youtube. It is surprising to see such astonishing beauty in something so lethal.
DeleteThat is sad you get burned out there, would not like to be in that position though we have had our fair share before now in the. Thanks for visiting. I'll add your site to blogs I follow
ReplyDeleteOur local fire is finally contained and out. So our air has cleared. The large fire burning south of us is 80% contained and still growing slowly. We've been lucky to not get those southerly winds and smoke.
DeleteThank you for visiting, I look forward to seeing your beautiful views of England.
All that smoke is terrible!
ReplyDeleteYosemite NP has been advertising down here to tell people that the main visitors areas are open and uncrowded.
Down here, we appear to be fire free for some reason. I'm sure the terrible humidity and rain from that extended tropical storm have something to do with it. Now we're dealing with mud slides and flash floods.
Our air finally cleared here. The local fire was contained, and we had a crazy rain which really cleaned things up. If the winds come up out of the south again, though, we'll get some of that Rim Fire smoke. Sure will be good to have that fire contained.
ReplyDelete