My Midwestern upbringing prepared me for a lot of things: a killer snowstorm that drops 12" of snow on top of 2" of ice? No problem. A tornado in the unbearably hot, humid days of summer? I get it, hideaway in the basement until it's gone. But wildfires? I'm a rookie.
I should clarify, I'm not in immediate danger by any means (lest you all forget, my Mom is one of my biggest fans/readers: Mom, I'm totally safe)!
That said, when the end of summer nears and certain parts of Oregon are dryer than normal, conditions are ripe for some mean wildfires. Lightening hits just one tree and it's like igniting a dry stack of hay. There are scars of past fires across state, especially as one travels outward from the typically damp area of the Willamette Valley. Unfortunately however, being a valley means when fires are raging, ash tends to settle smack dab in Rainy City, USA (a.k.a. Eugene).
I'll never forget my first experience with this. It was a few days after I moved into my apartment in September 2009. I woke up thinking, "Weird, I wonder if my downstairs neighbor burned toast his morning?" Alas, I figured it out when I turned on the local news. That smell was the timber-rich smoke and ash that was settling in the valley, leaving a thin film over everything and shrouding the sky in a grayish-pink curtain. Aside from the thousands of acres full of burning trees, respiratory dangers smoke and ash can cause and the countless other negative circumstances, it was kind of intriguing.
Wildfire season is in full force again this year, check the ash on my car:
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| Ok, the ash is hard to see in this one, but I thought the reflection turned out cool. |
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| A slight haze on the horizon. |
I never thought I'd say this in Oregon, but how about some rain!?
More info on current Oregon forest fires: http://www.nwccweb.us/information/fire_info.asp
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