Thursday This and That

I figured I could get away with this sun shot this morning.  After all, it's taken from a different spot than all the other sun shots I've posted this week.  

Just can't get enough of the brilliance of it all. I have a friend who posts sunset shots often and usually from the same position, so if I share redundant pink suns here on the blog----what the heck!

Of course, we're all soberly aware of the darkness behind that bright, brilliant sun.  Like the whole Northwest, I felt pretty sad last night after hearing about the firefighters who lost their lives yesterday. 

Thoughts and prayers are definitely aimed toward their families, friends and to all of the hundreds of residents evacuated from their homes within fire areas. 

We've sensed this was coming, and the sense is that it's long from being over.  

Images of the days of the Sundance Burn in the Selkirks and all the fires that preceded it in 1967 have swirled around in my mind for the past several days. 

One of the most vivid took place at the old fairgrounds in Sandpoint at the annual county fair.  I can remember the wind blowing for several days and the almost total lack of visibility.   

It was a dirty, worrisome time.

I can remember my dad sitting at the kitchen table in our home on North Boyer talking about that fire up in the water shed.  He worked for the Sandpoint City Water Dept. so he spent a lot of time up in that area.

Then, I remember the horror of learning on that Sunday morning (I think it was Sunday) that 55,000 acres had burned a swath from just a few miles from us all the way to Bonners Ferry.

I vividly remember lingering smoke for weeks afterward. 

The Sundance fire was unfathomable and beyond eerie.  

We're seeing scenes reminiscent of that time, only this year we've gone much longer without any notable precipitation than in 1967.  A dry month of July and then an equally dry month of August led to Sundance and the myriad of other area fires. 

We all know that this year has been profoundly worse from lack of moisture than anything we saw in 1967.  I do think, however, that people have been generally very careful with their behavior in the woods.  As bad as it is, the care has kept the situation much better than it could have been.

Let's just hope, Mother Nature gives us some slack and a whole lotta rain soon. 

On a brighter note, my doggies have a squirrel up a tree in the north lawn this morning. Usually their squirrel stare downs occur south of the house. 

They were a bit giddy when I went outside to snap a photo of the sun, giddy enough to take a quick break from the squirrel.  

Crazy dogs.  

Happy Thursday.  Keep the prayers and rain dances going.