I've been distracted for the last few days. Planes carrying water and fire retardant have been buzzing over our heads and great clouds of smoke and ash block out the sun making it look like a giant maraschino cherry hanging in the sky. Our area has been overtaken by the Castlerock Wildfire. As of now, over 41,000 acres have been burned and 1600 firefighters are working hard to keep it under control. The air quality has been deemed unhealthy and everyone is being told to stay inside and not partake in any outdoor exercise - no problem for me ;) People living in the area just a few miles north of us are under a mandatory evacuation. I don't think it is any threat to us except maybe the smoke. It's making our eyes burn and giving us headaches but we're trying to stay inside with the air conditioning on. This news story makes it seem like people are running for their lives but it's not like that. Everyone's doing what they have to do and in a small community like ours, people are jumping at the chance to help others any way they can. *click on the mosaic to see a larger version
