When the Moon Turns Orange

British Columbia is on fire. 5000 square kilometres of forest, brush and grassland have been burning for weeks. So far, here on the island we had been spared. That is, until our own beloved forest at the end of the road was set on fire. Twice.

On the mainland around 130 fires are burning, including 16 new ones that started on Friday. 45,000 people were evacuated in July and they say this is the 2nd worst year recorded for fires in terms of size and that was before forest fire season even ‘officially’ began. August is usually the worst month for fires and this year it will be even worse than worst.

So far, Vancouver Island has been spared any large out of control fires. At times we could see across the tops of the mainland coast mountains a thick band of dark air spread as far as you could see in either direction. After many weeks of fires, this week the smokey air finally spread across the Strait to us as well and we’ve been viewing the sun, which also brought a so-called heat wave, through an enveloping haze. We inhale the smokey air from thousands of miles away. The almost-full moon shines orange.

Qualicum Beach – The mainland has vanished!

One evening around 9:00 a couple of weeks ago we heard the fire truck sirens, wave after wave of them. The sound of bad news. Close. The fire was in our forest. It was burning right along one of the walking paths, along the top of a steep bank along the creek, around the brush of a large tree that fell last winter. Before it was extinguished it had spread through the pile of brush and branches, through a large old stump and up a couple of huge Douglas firs burning the bark on one side to a height of about 20 feet.

Here’s the thing. I can tell you for sure there was no lightning strike that night. We never (never say never) get lightning around here, there were no clouds and we have had 3 days of rain since the beginning of June. No machinery was operating. There was no illegal campfire in that location by the path on a steep bank. A casual flick of a cigarette butt by an ignoramus out for an evening stroll? Meh. I don’t buy it.

Then, last week, 6:30 in the morning, the sirens started up again. This time I went down the road where a few of us watched…well, not much to watch really, from where we were, other than fire water trucks filling up from the hydrant and going in and out of the road through the forest. Fire department vehicles from 3 neighbouring towns had been called in plus the RCMP.

Later that morning I went in to take a look. This time, the bad guys had set a fire way beyond the beaten track, where no righteous citizens walk, at the back of the meadow, through some thick brush. I don’t know how it was discovered or who discovered it and called it in, but once again a larger tragedy was averted.

The heavy smokey air from the mainland descended upon us the next day, which was very unsettling, not really knowing where the smell was coming from – from a thousand miles away or from another fire start in the forest at the end of the road.  But our little drama that ended well pales before what those people in affected areas on the mainland are going through this summer.

I follow the blog of a woman named Chris Czajkowski (Wilderness Dweller: One Woman’s Life in the Wilderness), who for over 30 years has lived in the BC interior, off-grid, building her cabins by herself, hiking miles to the nearest road and all that, and writing 12 books about her life. I’ve devoured them all. Her last half dozen posts have been about being smack in the middle of the fire action. From her house she can see several of the fires burning, watch helicopters flying by with their big buckets to go replenish in the lakes, and has had to evacuate once already and may need to leave again imminently. A great read about what it’s been like and she takes lots of pictures.

Another Owl Tale

I had a huge surprise yesterday as I was scrolling through older photos taken in the forest at the end of the road. I had mentioned (The Happiest Day of My Life) my years-long quest to find Owl in this forest and had finally found it just this past summer for the first time. So what is this lurking in the background?

Hiding in Plain Sight

Photobombed by Owl!

This was taken on a walk on Winter Solstice in 2014. A pair of quick idea snapshots of the patterns of bare branches in the sunlight. When I downloaded the day’s images way back then I obviously paid no attention to it, if indeed I even looked at it at all.

Owl has been there all this time but my eyes have not been in focus.

Can’t see the forest for the trees.

A Different Point of View

So what kind of an idiot leaves their camera out in the rain?

After almost exactly 3 years as my constant companion, my Canon Powershot SX30IS has, I fear, turned gimpy due to, well, unexplicable stupidity that I can’t begin to explic, and needs to be retired. Not happy.

July 4th marked 3 years since I returned to Canada from the Philippines. I remember that time so well. The day after I got here I went off to get this camera (The Eagle Has Landed) and it’s been with me recording my tales and explorations of this Left Coast and parts beyond ever since. After this unfortunate “accident” I took the camera into our forest to put it through its paces to see what damage had been done. I took a number of shots and then, mindful of the admonishments to always look behind you to see what the opposite view is, I happened to look up to find an entirely different view of this beloved forest. I spent a good half hour lying on my back on one of the benches, looking, seeing, watching the tops of the gigantic Doug Firs and Cedars sway in the wind and taking pictures, providing I’m sure, a different view for the few passersby as well.

A Different Point of View- Version 2 Continue reading