Summertime in Montana

Maybe not quite what you'd hope for or expect...

from your summer vacation in Montana?

This last one is looking at the same mountains from essentially the same spot as in these pics, out in the field at our place.  These above were all taken last Wednesday.

It seems that every few summers we get at least a week or two of skies like this, although some days can still be crystal clear.  It just depends on where you are in relation to a fire and which direction the wind is blowing, away or towards the nearest forest fire.  It seems that now we're paying our dues for the past month or so of cloudless blue skies and 90-100 degree days.  That's not a cloud below, it's smoke, taken on our return from picking berries last Friday.

We're leaving for Oregon tomorrow and I can't help but feel some trepidation about leaving at a time like this, when the fields and forests are so dry and each step is crispy, crunchy, and especially when something like this happened last week during a quick thunderstorm, just a quarter mile or so away, really just in the trees right across the field in the third picture down above.

Just clicking the camera to take a picture feels almost as if it could set off a spark.  There are stage 2 fire restrictions in effect right now that call for no open flame fires ANYWHERE and logging operations are on "hoot owl" hours which means they can only work from 1 am to 1 pm and then they have to stay on site for two hours to watch for fires that could have been cause by sparks.  If they go to stage 3, most forest service roads and campgrounds would be closed off which doesn't bode well for berry picking, hiking, camping, and tourism in general.

If you'd like to see some fantastic photography of another nearby homeschooling mom of four of the most wholesome looking children imaginable/knitter extraordinaire/fiber artist/and now photographer, then look here.   She started the knitting group that we both used to go to but she's since moved just a little further away and that group has dissolved.  Unfortunately, we live just a smidgen too far apart to just run into eachother often or see eachother regularly but we can still peek in on eachother online.  We must make an effort to get together when we get back, Camilla!

Comments

[Rani]

I know what you mean. We have a place down the E Fork of the Bitteroot Valley. There is a lot of devastation there from the big fires a few years back. And every summer since, we've had hazy, smokey days. I'll say a little prayer for your little spot of heaven to stay safe while your away!

[jean]

Ha! Living in Maine I thought you were writing about fog until I read your post. I love our sometimes cool foggy August days after a hot and humid July. Smoke would be quite a different vibe. Wow. Have a wonderful trip.

[Elizabeth]

We are hoping for rain too and there are water restrictions everywhere. Here's to hoping the heavens open up while you're away.
I love Camilla's photographs and her children are gorgeous. Thanks for the link.

[Amber]

Those hazy skies look like the summers of my youth in Central Oregon. Seldom was there a hot August without a wildfire nearby clouding those hot skies. Yucky.

On the coast here, we don't think too much about lighting a fire in our firepit in the yard but then when I go to my mom's house in Central Oregon, it's a whole different story---you wouldn't even think about doing that when it's hot & dry in August...

Where are you going to in Oregon??

[Brenda on the S OR Coast]

I'm on the Oregon Coast, too, but have spent much time in Central Oregon where my folks were both raised. I know what you mean about the hot and dry fire season. It's so cool and damp here on the coast that fires and hot weather are hard to even imagine. Here, we get excited when it's 75 degrees in the summer! =)

[Melissa V.O.]

Holey Smokes, literally! I flew into Great Falls and thought the clouds were rather low, but it was smoke. One night we saw the Meriwether fires from the backyard, but mostly it's just been too hazy to even see the mountains.

[Kaidy]

The weather people here in Minnesota have been telling us that the hazy clouds we have seen off and on over the last few weeks are from the smoke in Montana. They certainly aren't rain clouds! Oh, and here is a suggestion related to your posts of a few days ago--another source for project junk (I mean creative metal materials) is to ask for the spoiled key blanks at places that cut keys. I've had good luck in finding them for free at the local hardware stores.