Vignette for Wednesday: a creepy orange sky; a mix of marine layer and wildfire smoke. It got darker and and then lighter as the morning progressed. One positive: it has kept the temperature down in the 70's. One big negative: nasty air quality.
That's the sun:
A more cheerful scene than the sky: birds at the fountain, re-hydrating and bathing, despite the weird sky. I was meticulous about making sure the fountain had plenty of water all through the horrific heat wave over the weekend.
Wednesday vignette meme by Flutter and Hum
I haven't seen the orange sky here, just an endless impenetrable dirty gray haze, although the light seems off, especially late in the afternoon. We've been dusted by ash too. The finches are going crazy for my fountain as well. It's a cheerful sight. The house finches do take over but they're seem to feel such joy splashing around I can't help but smile.
ReplyDeleteThe finches are a hoot. They have little arguments, the moment a new bird arrives all the others adjust their spacing--they all fly off when startled and then come back one by one. I've noticed they don't just bathe once a day, they come back several times.
DeleteIt was so dark here yesterday afternoon I had to turn on some indoor lights. The good thing is it keeps the temperature down--that's something anyway. Ash here too and we bring the dogs back from our morning walk and their paws are black with ash and must be washed. 2020--annus horribilis.
Reminds me of the skies here in Australia last summer. I’m watching what’s happening in California with concern for all those affected. Your finches are very cute.
ReplyDeleteWe here remember Australia's disaster of last year. I hope recovery has begun.
DeleteI’m reminded of the red skies in Australia last summer. Your finches are very cute and lucky to have someone keeping water up to them.
ReplyDeleteIt is win-win--the various birds--there was a Robin there yesterday--eat bugs while they are here. Very happy to have them around. They make the garden so much more alive.
DeleteOh my, I can't imagine such a filthy sky. I hope it clears out for you soon. I am glad your birds have someplace to clean their feather and get refreshed. A true oasis.
ReplyDeleteIt is bad. They advised everyone to stay indoors. The pups must have their walk, however. We came back and the bottom of their paws were black with ash. Yikes!
DeleteThanks for the bird photos, best thing I've seen all morning! (our skies are the same...)
ReplyDeleteHappy you enjoyed the pics! The birds are delightful and the garden is alive with peeps and twittering (the bird kind) all day long. It's a joy.
DeleteYour photography of the birds is gorgeous ! A little touch of whimsy ? against such a sad occurrence of the fires making the skies look so ominous .. yet, there is such a stark beauty to it as well.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of Goldfinches and they do seem to have a bit of a cliche when it comes to other birds infringing on their "fun" ? LOL .. like little children playing with the garden hose .. we all need a little sprinkle of humor and this fills the gap , thanks !
We had similar skies in Canada in the 90's with severe forest fires .. nothing like California .. but it was a scary time to see the sky affected when it was so far from the actual event.
You are right, like a bunch of kids playing with the garden hose. It is such a happy, positive energy.
DeleteJust about all the west coast here is smoked in. It's worrisome, and the worst fire weather has not even begun yet. Maybe we'll get lucky and the Santa Ana winds will take the year off...
Same sky here. The scale of this is breathtaking--from SoCal into Washington.
ReplyDeleteThe one good thing have been the surprisingly mild temps. Too bad the air isn't good enough to spend much time outside.
The smoke has cut the temperature by like 10 degrees here. But yeah the air is nasty. I was out for a little while and that was a bad idea, but we've been stuck inside so long now.
DeleteTake care. Let's hope it gets better soon.
Our skies are a nasty, dirty orange-y yellow, and I spent all day at work, being outside in it. I smell like a camp fire... Luckily, we are in the north part of town - meaning farthest away from the fires in the south. Definitely thinking of escape routes, should it come to that. Love the bird photos - they are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI think escape routes and what to throw into the car are on everyone's mind. Happy you liked the bird pics--we need some relief from the grim.
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