Fall is in the Air, Along with all of the Smoke!

Well I suppose I have to eat my words (see post of May 26), as this is definitely the worst fire season we’ve had in my memory. While in other years the fires themselves may have been worse, at least we didn’t have smoke lingering in the valley – and our lungs – for weeks at a time. Montana now has eight fires burning, but Idaho holds the title with eleven, most in the northern panhandle. There are currently 35 fires burning in the northwest (including Alaska), and the number of fires that have been contained so far? ONE…    

                                                 

It’s been five weeks since the fires started; we’ve had the smoke hanging over us for at least a month, and quite frankly I’m really getting sick and tired of it. The smell of smoke is everywhere, in everything, It makes me cough and sneeze like crazy, my eyes itch, my sinuses are hurting, and I wake up every morning with a headach.  I'm faring (so far), better than some, many people are getting quite ill from it. 

I do have to admit however, that it does make for some amazing photos...

I did venture out at around 11:00, only because it makes me even crazier to be cooped up inside. There was actually some blue sky out there! First we’ve seen in weeks. Wandered down to the creek just to take in the sounds of the woods. There were only a couple of chickadees out and about, a doe with a fawn and one lone pine squirrel. The creek however, was reliable with its song, and I sat on a log to enjoy its comforting babble.

The squirrel was quite active and I watched as it scrambled about on some downed tree limbs, deftly scurrying under and over each fallen branch and rustling through piles of leaves as it searched for what was apparently its larder, for it soon popped up with a chunk of a mushroom almost as big as the squirrel itself. After a few quick nibbles it scooped up the tasty treat in its teeth and hurried off to a small pine tree to enjoy a feast.

A flock of about 30 turkeys also made an appearance, gobbling up grasshoppers and seeds, then wandering off into the cottonwoods for the afternoon.

In spite of all the smoke, autumn is sauntering in… The dogwood leaves are changing to a dark, rich rust color, and its bright white berries are beginning to form. A few willows along the creek have spots of yellow, but the cottonwoods are only barely beginning to turn. While the days are getting shorter and the sunlight less, we’ve just not yet had any freezing temperatures to encourage the trees to begin shutting down for the winter. But they’re on their way!!

Where Did the Mountains Go?

We’ve been tolerating smoke from surrounding forest fires for weeks now, but never so much as the past couple of days. It cloaks the surrounding mountains and the smell permeates everything. Lungs labor to breathe, eyes itch and water, throats go dry and scratchy. Even the animals are coughing and sneezing. There is a constant, eerie haze that blocks out most of the sun, and even though the temperatures are finally tolerable, most folks stay inside because any activity causes respiratory stress. I wake up in the morning to the smell of it and go to bed at night feeling like I'm surrounded by one giant campfire.


These two photos were taken from the exact same spot along the river just outside of town. The first was taken earlier this summer, and the second taken just today. No color enhancements have been made - the air really is brown right now...

Just about this time of year we start getting light dustings of snow high in the surrounding mountains, cooler daytime temperatures and noticeably colder weather at night. This seemingly drastic change helps to calm the forest fires and brings much needed relief to the fire fighters. This year however - particularly this week, the temps are in the high 70s to mid 80s, and only down to the mid 40s to low 50s at night. They say we're not going to see any improvement in the air quality until (quite possibly) mid October! So we have three to four more weeks of this mess. The best we can do to tolerate it is to keep from doing any escessive outdoor activities. Keeping the smoke out of the house is near impossible, it creeps in from everywhere.


The only (somewhat) positive note in all of this is that at least these fires, for the most part, are not close by. While there is one fire about 50 miles south of us, most of them are in neighboring states, Idaho and Washington to be exact. On the down side, most of the air currents from both of these states move east off the ocean - right into western Montana.

The entire area is relatively quiet. Drove onto Blue Mountain this afternoon, and where there is usually a large crowd of hikers, dog walkers, folf players and the like – I had the entire mountain pretty much to myself. In a way it was nice, but the fact that all of the smoke makes it difficult to breathe, I chose not to stay and headed home after a couple of photos of the surrounding mountains – or lack thereof.

There seems to be a trend in the past decade or so, that we have these nasty forest fires every three years. 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 were all bad fire years. Sure would be interesting to know what's causing this pattern.

"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"

For the past couple of months now, there have been forest fires raging all around us – yes, history does repeat itself! (refer to post of May 26). While Montana has fared reasonably well in regard to fires (only three fires of 20,000 acres or less and several under 500 acres), Idaho has suffered terribly. A large fire near Boise and eight in the Nez Perce National Forest (across the northern panhandle); have raged out of control for weeks. The one in Boise is 145,000 acres and only 60% contained, and the fires in the northern part of the state comprise over 50,000 acres and are in such steep and rugged mountains that it would be too dangerous for the smokejumpers. All they can do is try to maintain it with water and slurry drops, and hope it will soon burn itself out. What we need is several days of solid, soaking rain with no lightning to settle this mess, but there is not a drop in sight. Oregon too, has almost 100,000 acres on fire at the moment.

The smoke from these fires has been filtering into our valley for a few weeks now, some days worse than others. The wind, when we have it, usually blows the smoke away. But today, it all blew into the valley instead. There is an eerie, yellowish haze to the sky, and the mountains are practically invisible. This evening as the sun headed downward into the western sky, it took on a myriad of colors, from orange to red, to bright salmon pink. There is even an occasional light downfall of ash, somewhat reminiscent of Mt. St. Helen’s, although not nearly in the same capacity. The smoke burns my eyes and wreaks havoc with my allergies. The smell of smoke is everywhere, on everything, and embedded into my brain.

In spite of the smoke and haze, we adapt as best we can and life goes on. Went down to the river at Council Grove today, to observe the changing of the season. Now that school has started, there are far less people there and I’m able to sit and watch the goings on uninterrupted by noise and human intrusion.

The young flickers and Lewis’ Woodpeckers were as active as I’ve ever seen them. The Lewis’ do migrate, so it’s understandable that they would be feeding heavily to prepare for their long flight ahead. But the flickers are here year ‘round. Maybe they’re stuffing themselves in preparation of a long winter… At least they’re stuffing themselves on fat grasshoppers and ants. Only one of the three Osprey chicks are left in the nest, high above the river, its parents having flown south weeks ago. It sure sounded lonely up there in the nest, chirping away with no one left to answer. In another week or so I imagine it will be joining the rest of its family on their southbound journey. The magpies are returning from the higher elevations and the geese are beginning to form large flocks.

It’s getting colder at night, and the forecast for this Tuesday night is 33 degrees! Guess maybe it’s time to start closing some windows at night? Time to relight the furnace too! I so hate letting go of summer, it never seems to last nearly long enough. This year we went from continuous rain to 95+ degrees daily, with no pleasant, comfy, breezy mid-range summer weather. It was like going from a rain forest to Death Valley…

The tomato plants are beginning to turn yellow, even with plenty of water, and there is still plenty of unripe fruit left on them. Some are slowly ripening but many are not going to. But they won't go to waste - I can just hear those slices of fried green tomatoes, sizzling away in the skillet!