Gratitude is founded on the deep knowing that our very existence relies on the gifts of other beings.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Latest news this morning shows the Alexander Mountain FIre to be held at 9,668 acres and is 74% contained. The Stone Canyon Fire is 100% contained. Grateful the skies are returning to their blue color! I found this bee enjoying their time on a sunflower the other afternoon at the CSU Experiment Garden. I really need to thank them more often for being the gift they are and not just as a photographer’s subject.
I took this image on a ridge that looks out over an open space and a large farmland area that has not been scrapped and “developed” into housing. It shows we have two fires burning near us. The Alexander Mountain fire is on the left and the new one, Stone Canyon fire, is on the right. As of last night the Alexander fire was at 5080 acres and 0% contained. The Stone Canyon fire started yesterday and is about 1300 acres and 0% contained. Sadly there has been one death in the Stone Canyon fire. Neither fire grew during the night but today is going to be hot and dry. Then this morning I find out a third fire ignited last night in Jefferson County called the Quarry fire. Sheesh!! Stay safe.
Evolution means that nature does not operate according to fixed laws but by the dynamic interplay of law, chance, and deep time; that is, one cannot understand natural processes apart from developmental categories. The interaction of forces creates a dynamic process of unfolding life, pointing to the fact that nature is incomplete; there are no fixed essences. Instead, nature is consistently oriented toward new and complex life.
Good morning! We have our first forest fire of the season burning called the Alexander Mountain Fire. It is burning just west of Loveland and was estimated at 1,820 acres with 0% containment as of 10:00 a.m. this morning. I took this image around 7:00 pm yesterday evening from Arapaho Bend Natural Area.
This morning I was awake and up by 4:00 am. After my quiet time I drove up to Pineridge to watch the sunrise. What a gift with a cloudless sky. I could see the smoke from the fire drifting gently out to the east but not smell it. On my way back into town, I came across a house on West Mulberry with a large fire burning in the backyard of the home. I pulled over as the four fire trucks and ambulance pulled up and just cried, and cried hard. Think I’m feeling too much of the pain of this world with natural disasters and man’s incessant need for killing, so the dam burst. Hope you have a good day!
With an almost cloudless sky on Friday evening I wanted to try for a blue sky sunset taken from the eastern plains. I drove to Cobb State Wildlife Area. I watched and photographed a lovely sunset but the sky was not the blue I wanted due to a prescribed burn near Red Feather Lakes. On my way home I stopped and took this image to show the fire. You can see the smoke rising from the mountains on the right side of the image. Even though it was a small fire it filled the sky with its ugly gray/brown color. Yet, I cannot be disappointed because I was given this image, just as it is. Or, as the quote says, I just take ’em.
There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader. . . . All scriptures before nature’s manuscript are as little pools of water before the ocean.
Hazrat Inayat Khan, “There Is One Holy Book”
This was taken yesterday morning at Pineridge Natural Area. You can see the smoke along the eastern horizon, looking dirty and ugly while blue sky above. Today the smoke is worse and there is no blue sky to be seen. We are unable to see the mountains in the west. The National Weather Service says the smoke is too high in the atmosphere to cause any respiratory concerns but it is visible. If you are interested here is a link to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information website. It is interactive and will show some interesting facts on the fires. The fires are the result of a heat wave pattern — described as an “omega block” by meteorologists. So, if we read nature’s manuscript correctly it is telling us that man’s impact on the climate is taking a toll. Just saying!
Meeting my grandson, Daryian, today for lunch at Hooters. His idea and should be fun. I hear they serve food there, also.
We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.
Wendell Berry
The Air Pollution Control Division says today: Fine Particulate Matter concentrations are expected to be in the Unhealthy category on Saturday due to wildfire smoke transported from Canadian wildfires. People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion on Saturday. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion on Saturday.
You can see in the above image just how messed up the air quality is here in Colorado. This is what it normally looks like. I can hardly imagine what it’s like in Canada. My understanding is that yesterday was worse. I had to look this fire situation with Dr. Google and fill my head with frustrating news. Here is a map of the fires in Canada if you haven’t seen them. Looks like more than 90 fires in Canada. My understanding is that Denver had one of the worst air qualities in the world yesterday.
I agree with Mr. Berry that we need to make the effort to learn what is good for the world rather than focusing on ourselves as the center of the universe and ignoring the rest of creation. Anyway have a great weekend !
