You get used to it, after a while. Or you don’t. Wildfire smoke gives me cold or allergy symptoms, i.e. my nose starts to run like crazy and I start sneezing. My throat is irritated and my eyes are red. During the Coal Seam fire, which was in our valley and not a few valleys over, my symptoms were the same, only worse. Next time I’ll have to move away. Where? The smoke that is bothering me right now is from California. It’s a global economy and a global climate, for sure.
Fortunately, the fires closest to us are mostly contained. I got a few pictures of the Lake Christine fire after it was beaten back from the houses in El Jebel (and it was unbelievable, what those hotshot firefighters saved!!), and it gives you an idea of what our summers can look like in the Rocky Mountains.
We all go about our business, underneath that conflagration, knowing someone is up there working on a fireline or flying a plane loaded with water or fire retardant. You learn a lot about firefighting. The coolest thing to see are the Chinook helicopters taking water from the nearest body of water and flying it up to the fire to dump it from the air. It’s quite a sight! It can be nerve-wracking, too. I was sitting on my side deck one day when I saw the Chinook, quite close over the roof tops, hauling water up the hill over the little ridge from me. Sure enough, a small fire had started. If the wind were blowing then, I would have had maybe all of 15 minutes or less to get out of my house. We keep evacuation bags packed and the dog’s bag packed so we can grab it quickly.
It is so dry here. I have never seen it this dry in my Rocky Mountain area, and I’ve been here a while! In the late summer, things do dry up and from mid-July (usually), it’s fire season and no campfires or outdoor smoking is allowed. But this year — this year… [shakes head] it’s bad. Even the native vegetation is wilting, and it is drought-tolerant. Our city didn’t get rain at all for about a month, although we’re finally getting a few days of steady rain here and there. It’s not enough, and I hope La Nina comes through and dumps snow on us this winter.
My garden is actually doing well and I’m starting to get some yellow zucchini and tomatoes, yay!
I have some orange sweet cherries that are the bomb. I also have potatoes in big pots in the front. As you know, I’d been sidelined during early garden season so I had to prioritize. One thing I love to do is flowers around and on the deck for our viewing pleasure when sitting outside. I have my climbing old-fashioned petunias and the Texas sage every summer, and every summer they outdo themselves. The Texas sage was a holdover from last year, and it’s going crazy.
I got a basket with some beautiful gerbera daisies and they stubbornly wouldn’t bloom. I’m sure it was the heat, because now here pops up a beautiful velvet red one..
I worry, though, with this severe drought we’re in, that my deck and all my flowers will burn to the ground if there’s a fire downwind from us. As gardeners, we are well aware of how the climate is changing. My area is trending dryer and hotter, and we don’t have much water to begin with. I’ve put in several drip hoses and spend a lot of time shuttling watering cans back and forth to my flowerpots, but I think I’m conserving. My water bill says I am. We don’t care if our lawn is a little brown.
I also bought a “chipmunk waterer” from Kinsman & Company. It’s a simple little ceramic automatic waterer like what you would get your cat. The chickadees and the chipmunks love it. I also have a fountain set up on the counter by my chair on the deck. I’ve been having to refill this small fountain almost 3 times a week and was wondering, what the heck? Then I noticed a little finch on the tree branch across the deck fly over and perch, and get a drink. Ah. Good thing I can keep all the little critters watered.
A cool rock I found which I keep on my deck has a nice wreath of flowers for late summer.
Last week, we finally got some RAIN! (we went camping of course and got caught in it).
And real rain! Not that wimpy 15 drops of water, wind blows mightily, and then the sun comes out. No! it rained from the early morning hours until about noon, and cleared the air for a bit and helped out a lot of native vegetation, I’m sure.
I have to work today, my boss asked me if I would, last week, and of course I said, “sure”. We’ve got a big trial coming up and we need to prepare, so I won’t be here for long, although I’ll be around for a little bit first thing. I hope you all enjoy your day and your gardens today!