Tragic

Well, I was going to show off some quilt blocks I finished because I have finally gotten some more sewing done, but I just can’t get there tonight.  Can’t get past this:

This is the fire burning just west of town, the High Park fire. 

My husband and I drove east from our house to get a better perspective.  Took the photo above.  And this as well.

This is what we saw when we drove to the end of our street: a dark sky full of smoke.

We’re not in any danger where we are, but west of town is a true disaster.  Right now, the fire is at 20,000+ acres with zero containment.  Most of the day we heard about the fire moving northwest.  But just a little bit ago another set of evacuations was ordered saying the fire was also moving rapidly south. 

Homes have been lost.  Too early, of course, to say how many.  A couple of our dear friends may have lost their house up the canyon.  No sign of rain in sight.  Still windy.  The sheriff has said that this is the fire they were always afraid we might have. 

A few weeks ago a fire west of town blazed through one of the prime hiking trails up the canyon, one that has really been iconic. That was a real loss to our community.  But this is so much worse.  We’re lucky to not be personally effected but we are still just so sad. 

We turned off our air conditioner a bit ago because we were pulling smoke into the house.  As I sit here typing, I can smell it still.