Saturday Slightly Smoky

Hard to believe it’s July with the cool, smoky air outside.  This feels and looks more like what we’re used to experiencing at the end of August during a dry year.

I’ll take the cool, but the smoke needs to go.

It’s just downright unfathomable thinking about the residents of Central Washington who’ve lost their homes or who have had to leave their homes and animals behind, thanks to a lightning fast, devastating wildfire.

While we lament the smoky air here in North Idaho, a few hundred miles away, hundreds of unfortunate souls in Central Washington try to look ahead to how they’re gonna put their lives back together.

Losing everything to fire involves varying stages and attitudes:  disbelief, extreme sadness, deep appreciation for those who help every way imaginable, weariness when reality sets in and the task ahead seems impossible, fierce determination to methodically put the pieces back together and a whole lot of frustration every single step of the way.

Having been there, done that, I feel a strong sense of empathy for these Central Washington folks and their animals and their surroundings.  Regaining any sense of a normal life will take them a long, long time.

In a few days, maybe the smoke will clear here, and we won’t be complaining until the next incidental item disrupts our comfort zone.

When that happens, the folks in Central Washington will be just days into tackling the challenge of the myriad of incidentals they must address on the long road back to their comfort zone.

All relative, that’s for sure and definitely a reminder of “there but for the grace of God go I.”

Appreciating the good life with a little smoky air here in North Idaho this morning.

Happy Saturday.