….and I feel ….ACHOOO!

For those who may not have heard, the Pacific Northwest is on fire. The area around Spokane, Washington, for example, has 11 fires around it accounting for around 500, 000 acres on fire (if my math is right from the graphic I saw).  And that’s just that part of the area.  The number of wildfires is insane.  I had commented to my mom a few weeks ago that I felt we were all lucky – for as dry as it has been, this has not been our summer.

Guess I spoke too soon.

Yesterday, the wind into Portland was from the east which meant all of the smoke from central and eastern Oregon and Washington came into the city.  It has truly been surreal.  Not only has the air smelled like campfire, but the haze has turned the city from blue skies into a yellow-grey smog that has made the light on everything look eerie and weird.

And for me – my allergy medication regime that had been working so well lately has…..well…..not been working so well.

As someone commented to me, this place downright looks apocalyptic.

The sunset last night was surreal.

Indigo and I stood on the bluff overlooking the Willamette River and were in awe. It was beautiful in an eerie way.  What was even stranger (in a good way) was the fact we were two of about 50 people standing their watching this weird sunset and people were actually engaging with each other over the phenomenon.  I spoke photography to one man for about 20 minutes as we both took photos, lamented about having the wrong lens or set-up, and bonded over this very sci-fi sunset.

Today, G and I went to Rocky Butte – an area high above the city because I wanted to see what the smoke looked like from there.  Between the smoke, filtered sunlight, and the red rocks, the photos were definitely interesting without me needing to make them interesting via post-production.

Then we went downtown because as we drove by it, we both were struck how how the city looked under the smoke:

I guess I found it poetic that as we were walking along – we came across this graffiti on this rock –

All we can all hope for is that the weather gives the firefighters some help in getting these fires under control and put out. Too many lives are at risk given how these fires are right now.  I love one couple’s sign they post on the gate to their house each fire season: “It’s only a house – please be safe.”

Amen to that!