Smoke Gets In Your Skies

Sunday.  It's becoming routine that every afternoon the smoke from the Idaho fires travels hundreds of miles, spreads out across the valley, and lays down a hazy blanket that obscures the mountains to the north and to the south.  The horizon in every direction looks grayish-white and filters the sunlight.  Today was the same.  I was at the lake and had planned to take some pictures of what may be my last blast on the jet-ski before it turns chilly.  However, the sky was so gray, I wasn't at all inspired to grab the camera.

After I got home, unloaded, washed the jet-ski, and parked it the garage, the evening started to cool a bit.  Ahhh... And, amazingly, the smoke receded, and the mountains and blue skies were revealed.  The cool air did the trick.

Hopefully, a change of weather soon will help douse the many forest fires in the west. Bless those fire-fighters who are battling the hot blazes and smoke day after day!

Although I've noted that the days are getting shorter, I hadn't really paid that much attention to the clock at sunset.  But tonight I did, and the sun was just about to disappear behind the mountain peaks at 7:45 p.m.  I'm going to miss the long summer evenings...

At 7:00 p.m. the sun was already getting lower in the sky.

By 7:40, the sun was back-lighting the smoke sneaking over the mountains.