Lit Up

I’ve never watched a mountain catch fire. Especially not a mountain this close to home.

But we were in our front yard on the afternoon of July 3rd and what began as a single column of wispy smoke weaving into the air quickly turned into this:

And when I say close to home, I mean we packed up our valuables, just in case.

We watched the fire climb higher and closer, flanked on the other side by a full moon.

The morning of the 4th, it seemed less menacing, until the fire jumped to a new section of mountain and sent darker smoke into the air.

By nightfall, this was our view:

Valley fireworks before us, the full moon above us and the fire…

behind us.

Thank you, wind, for blowing the fire up the mountain rather than down and thank you, firefighters and pilots, for keeping us safe.

(I’m keeping bags packed until I see snow on the mountain…)