California's Burning

When I got up yesterday morning, I noticed that there were little floaty things in the air. I wondered about the shimmering morning air, and then went about watering the yard. (The tomatoes did well, the herbs are growing, the mesclun is off the hook, the artichoke is sprouting up like a weed, but the fuschia is almost dead and there might not be much hope for the leeks.) Later, at the farmer's market, I overheard people talking about the ash fall-out from the fires.

Of course!

Earlier this summer, I had made a mental note that the area was not as fiery as it had been last year around the same time. Driving back on Wednesday, however, I noticed some telltale brown haze along the horizon. Sure enough, when I woke up this morning, my local NPR station was warning of health risks due to the high smoke count in the atmosphere from the fire in the Santa Cruz mountains. When I went outside, I could smell the smoke.

Fun, huh?