Haze

 “When she awoke, the world was on fire.” 
                                                                                                          ― Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

 Well, not actually on FIRE. But the heat and the haze and the drifting smoke from the Interior of B.C. finally made it's way here, to Vancouver Island.The mountains  are mere outlines this week.....

 This is what the Washington Mountain Range ( sorry I don't know the actual names of these particular ones) should look like at this time of year.

The tallest sunflower. Over the eaves of the house. Tinged orange in the early light. Can see farther  than anything else. It turns its head in the heat.

 Haze. Heat. Sun. Golden Boy . So hot. Eyes sting in the haze. 

 “But clouds bellied out in the sultry heat, the sky cracked open with a crimson gash, spewed flame-and the ancient forest began to smoke." ― Yevgeny Zamyatin, The Dragon: Fifteen Stories

 Even at High Noon..........

 The mountains still look riddled with smoke and haze.

 I'd forgotten that they should be like this...

 The light has changed over the past few days.

  Weird shades. Orange. Bloody. Yellow.Like in a horror movie. 

 And remember that the mountains should look like this.....

  End of the world . Disaster movie in the making.

 The smoky haze  finally  swooshed its way into the valley between us and the mountains.. Yukky to breathe in. Tastes like burnt matches, in the middle of the day. Not that I've tasted burnt matches. Well, maybe I did..long ago....kids try the craziest things.

 By 7pm the mountains still look like fuzzy peaches.......

 Don't forget.....they should be looking like THIS!THIS! THIS!

 Even watering pots is a chore. The farther into the day the heavier the air gets. Almost harder still to be toddling about. Like moving  though bubble wrap.Bubble wrap that won't pop.....

              "The No. 1 cause of forest fires is trees."
                                                                                         -Pat Paulsen

 And the mountains once looked like this..................

Photographs 2017