Summer and Smoke

Summer and smoke. I remembered it as a title and had to stoop to using the internet to remind me what it was. A Tennessee Williams play, made into a steamy-for-the-times movie I was too young to see. It’s a different kind of summer and smoke in Washington State, where I live. It’s literal. Summer is always wildfire time but this year the season has outdone itself. A large residential part of Spokane, the city where my husband and I Iived for 32 years, burned to the ground. I look at the photos and can’t believe the destruction. I know one person who lost everything, another whose home was spared, and many others who are still waiting to be un-evacuated so they can go home and see what, if anything, is left. Others are still “locked and loaded” (I know nothing about guns so may not have used that correctly), packed and ready to go if necessary. The fires are still not contained. I now live on what’s called “the wet side of the state” but we’re in a four-year drought over here in Seattle too. The sunsets are beautiful because of the smoke but the air quality is terriible. I normally love wind but with the dry conditions, wind has become the enemy. Fires in campgrounds are not allowed and even a fire in a backyard fire pit is prohibited state-wide. Seems like everything east of the Cascade Mountains in most of the country and in Canada has been incredibly hot and in lot of places, on fire. I’m looking forward to fall more than ever this year. Bring on the pumpkins and apple cider.

Photo of Indian Trail neighborhood after the fire in Spokane, courtesy of various media outlets