Smoke and Thunder

I just checked my weather widget.  Current conditions: smoke.  Not that I need the widget to tell me that.  I just have to look out my window. 

I took this picture from my kitchen window last night.  You can barely make out the darker line of trees in the background.

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This picture was taken this morning.  You wouldn't know those distant trees were there. Gone in a puff of smoke.

This photo was taken from the same window on another atypical day.  We don't get much snow here, but even on that unusual winter morning you could see the mountains in the background.  I'll try to remember to take a picture on a clear day so you can see the difference between what we're experiencing now and what is common on most summer days.  

The smoke is coming from a forest fire near Jervis Inlet on the mainland.  That's about 270 km away. (Or 168 miles for my American friends.) Somehow I find this unsettling.  This isn't even the big-news fire, though I suppose those blazes are contributing to smoke here as well.

According to the widget, thunderstorms are predicted for later today.  More unusual conditions for  our corner of Vancouver Island.  And to add to the overall eerie feeling, there's the knowledge that the Jervis Inlet fire was caused by lightening.  I'm left feeling a wee bit anxious, though that could just be the second cup of coffee.  Or maybe the anxiety comes from writing for the first time in months. Whatever it is I'm kind of enjoying it.  It's a huge improvement over the inertia I've been feeling since my last post.  I may feel anxious, but I'm feeling! 

Links:

Smokey Haze from Sunshine Coast Wildfire

Smoke Advisory Issued for East Island

More than 400 wildfires burn across B.C.

Fire crews on high alert as B.C. forests turn into tinder boxes