Smoky Day

Holy cow! This morning started out normally for this time of year — a nice, cool summer morning with promise to be in the mid-80s in the afternoon.

I went to the dentist this morning for the installation of my crown-bridge appliance. Of course, my teeth are quite sensitive and I couldn’t do it without some anesthesia. That just makes adjusting the bite more difficult. But my teeth are unhappy and it had to be done.

Then we learned that the appliance was not correctly fabricated. Even with the adjustments, I was sent home with the temporary back in place so that the permanent appliance can be returned to the laboratory and adjusted.

I left the dentist’s office and drove over to the office to take care of a couple of tasks that needed my direction, then drove home. I retrieved a geocache along the way to continue my streak. It was an easy find and intended to be a park-and-grab, which it was.

Once home I took a couple of ibuprofen and an acetaminophen for my angry teeth and started some brunch. My sleep was weird last night — I woke about 0300, took my medications (the rabbitbrush is blooming and irritating my allergies), then returned to bed. I was able to go back to sleep but then didn’t wake in time to cook breakfast.

Brunch was good… I made a fried-egg sandwich. I love the peppery-taste of fried eggs with a bit of cheese and a smidge of Miracle Whip to give it some tang. I toast my bread lightly. I suppose a strip of bacon would make it better and might have to do that next time.

I was hungry and it was good.

I noticed that the sky was darkening during the afternoon. Young Son called me to determine whether Genoa had been ordered to evacuate. He told me he appeared to be surrounded by smoke. I could only identify the Bodie fire. It worsened as the afternoon wore on. When I took the Girl on a short walk to retrieve our mail, she didn’t want to go outside. I think she senses something isn’t right.

She’s right… There is a lot of smoke in the air. Now there is a fine ash falling as well.

While retrieving the mail, I stopped to make an image at one of my favorite places close to the house. Normally I can see the Carson Range in the background. That is not the case today. Even the sun is clouded by the smoke and ash.

It reminds me of the worst days on the south high plains of Texas. When the dust blew, this is what it looked like. It smelled differently, but looked the same.

Edit: I learned the fire is near Yosemite, not Bodie or Mammoth Lakes. It’s still out of control and is pretty big. But it’s not a danger to us here.