That's Gneiss! #201 ~ Cough cough
No, it's not Covid
It’s smoke!
Yay.
A few days ago, it was looking like the air would clear for a bit before the wall of rain hits us on Friday. But no, that fizzled out and we’re now under an air quality warning until 5 pm on Thursday.
I expect fresh air promptly at 5 pm! Not a minute later.
Fresh air was not in the cards today, once we crested the Snoqualmie Pass and headed downhill to the west. Things were looking pretty good on the east side of the mountains - a bit of haze, but overall not too bad. Oh who am I kidding, that’s pretty gross.
Compared to where we were headed however…
When driving I-90 from the east, you hit the top of the pass then take a turn to the left heading into the long drive downhill. We could see the wisps of smoke trying to make their way around that turn, and as soon as we turned the corner it was a wall of smoke. Shockingly bad. Michael took a few shots as we headed west. We could immediately smell a strong scent of burning wood, even with the car windows rolled up tight. It was like driving into a dystopian hellscape. We stopped in North Bend for a quick leg stretch and the AQI was 176.
The fire causing this mess is the Loch Katrine Fire, one of several small fires burning in wilderness areas along the Cascades. It started in early September, but blew up on Sunday when the hot windy weather hit. We could see it belching smoke off of the mountain when we were on our way to Yakima Sunday. I was confused at first and thought it was the Bolt Creek fire I wrote about previously. That fire is up to 14,000+ acres and still sending smoke our way as well.
As I write this tonight our AQI is up to 163, well into the red zone and very unhealthy. We skipped the evening dog walk. Rowland is snoring away behind me and doesn’t seem to care one iota.
Friday we are supposed to get a storm front bringing us heavy rain and gusty winds. I can’t wait.
Enough about the weather!
How about some Halloween decor updates? I have nothing up, because of our trip away to Yakima and the smoke. I think I missed a 10-minute window of prime decorating time last week. Oh well. My neighborhood has plenty of people with the holiday spirit though - it helps that there’s an annual decorating contest that provides some motivation. This year’s theme is ghosts and skeletons, and I wholeheartedly approve.
A few highlights…
There is of course the one neighbor who goes for the “more is more” approach. I like that in art, but not so much when it comes to yard decor.
It’s like everything is barfed onto the yard with very little thought. Any one thing is lost amongst the morass. I hate to know what her power bill looks like this time of year.
I need to get a few new things for my collection of yard decor, but I’m feeling a bit stymied this year with the timing. I’ve been pruning our out-of-control snowball bush and have a lot of bare branches to use - and have a good idea for them, if I manage to get it done.
I’ll manage! Even if I have to put things up in the rain.
Not quite 24 hours later…
Waaaaaaaah. I just want it to stop.
No dog walk tonight. I can wear a mask, but he can’t.
The folks up there in Darrington have it really rough, and it’s been bad a lot longer. AQI over 450 up there.
There is just too much happening in the next week - doctor and vet visits, a minor maintenance visit for our house, a big presentation for our all staff day at work, eighty gazillion things that need to be done. I’m tired already! It is not my intention to whine and complain but right at this moment that’s about all I’ve got in me.
I can tell I haven’t done any art for a few days. I’d best go remedy that and I’ll start to feel better.
Later…
Slightly better. I did do three drawings! But they aren’t painted yet so will remain out of sight. I’m quite happy with them so far, and as suspected it was good to do some art. Here instead are some blind contour drawings I did of Rowland while we were camping a few weeks ago.
With that I shall say goodbye for now.
Until next time, when I fully expect we’ll be totally soaked with rain.
Cheers!
Your photo of the more is more neighbor was hilarious. I feel like if there wasn't a satellite dish hanging off the front gutter it would not be in balance :)
We are getting a lot of the smoke, too :(. I'm so sorry, though, it looks really bad there.