we saw trees on fire in the pacific northwest.
we were on the road and saw yellow haze before us amd wondered what was up with the otherwise beautifully sunny weather. maybe it was smog. maybe it was a weird valley. we passed through the yellowness and just when the sky started clearing up again, we saw an even thicker cloud, and orange reflections, and what looked like a descent into eternal night. we plove gallantly forward. it was terrible. we switched the air to recirculation and it still smelled smoky. the sun turned red, and then dimmed away almost entirely. it was dark. we zoomed forward. we came out to lightening sky, turned a corner, and saw the sun behind a small mountain before us, smoke wisping over, trees casting these amazing spiky shadows down and outward radially. we turned another corner and despite seeming, again, out of the worst, we saw actual trees on actual fire. like, orange fire. on the trunks.
traffic didn’t slow. we plowed on, shrieking at each other.
fire is scary. we were so close and weren’t in danger–roads weren’t closed–and all of us just kept going, speeding past.