I just googled photos of the red dust storm that is blinding Sydney, Australia. I know this dust storm is wreaking havoc on health and daily life, but some of the photos are truly lovely. The eerie glow of the outback sand makes for some stunning sights, and serves as a reminder that the climate is changing, and nature knows no boundaries.
While I live many thousands of miles and a whole ocean away from the shores of Sydney, here in Oregon we are getting covered in not dust, but ash. Quinn and Logan were hoping that it was ash from an exploded volcano and were a little bummed to learn that the source --a forest fire--was not so dramatic. A fire is burning about 70 miles east of us, and the high-pressure system that is gracing the Pacific Northwest with unseasonably high temps is also blowing all that ash our way. My lungs are burning and that long run I had planned today will have to wait, but the smoke-filled sky has made for some spectacular lighting. Last night glowed. Every object was luminescent and the salmon-colored sunset that smeared the sky was beautiful. I felt as if I walked into some color-saturated movie it was so otherworldly. I would have stayed outside longer, but inhaling ash for hours on end finally took its toll. It's hard to say how many days this will continue. I'm trying to turn a negative into a positive and even though my half-marathon training is on hold, I'm enjoying the heat and the sunsets that we get to enjoy thanks to that smoke and ash.
No comments:
Post a Comment