Safety first

I love our local crossing guard. She's always cheerful and outgoing--it's a nice way to start your day, talking to happy people.

Walking Mark to school this morning, I noticed a fine layer of ash blanketing the ground. Seems like there aren't as many ashes floating around in the air, and the sky seemed a little cleaner. Yesterday, we saw lots of people wearing surgical masks to protect themselves, and as we approached the crosswalk, I noticed the crossing guard wore one, too.

She had it pushed down on her neck, though, so she could greet people. We talked briefly about the fires, and how sad it was all those homes burned down.

But when I returned from school, her mask was gone.

"I had to take it off," she told me. "I couldn't blow my whistle with the mask on."

We both started laughing. It was just a funny visual image.

The air may not be safe today, but the crosswalk certainly is.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down

The fires moved much closer to us (30 miles away) and the powerful winds blew tiny, ashen remainders toward us all day. Little white and gray bits rained from the sky, covering the ground and cars in a fine mist. I closed the partially-open garage door after watching silty ash fall onto my freshly-laundered clothes.

The air was bitter, acrid--you could smell the smoke in it, until the burn moved into the back of your throat and settled there uncomfortably. I cancelled the long bike ride I promised Mark today, concerned about the unhealthy air. Even the mailman wore a surgical mask as he walked his route.

The sky was really strange, sharply divided in color like a little kid's drawing: clear blue on the bottom half, smoggy brown on top.

It even affected the sun. Shrouded by a brown haze, it peeked over the trees, glowing an eerie red like the fires. It looks like a sunset, but I took this picture at 2 in the afternoon.

I feel just horrible for all the people who've lost their homes, or are being evacuated. I hope the evacuees, and their homes, all remain safe.

Here's another photo I took in the back yard:

We just stayed home all day, trying not to breathe in the foul air. Mark played his drums, and is now serenading me with his cello.

In happier news, Jacki Brunk is in town for a conference. She's staying with us, which has been great fun. She's so good with Mark, challenging him to play The Game With No Name (aka Loose Hair) and to give her drum lessons.

We visited Jacki's local favorite haunts, the places she misses since moving to Illinois. Last night Mark helped my mom babysit Johnny--Mark wore his baseball batting helmet to protect himself from the cars and trains Johnny tosses at his head.

Which gave Jacki and I a mom's night off. We went to dinner at our favorite brewpub on the beach, followed by a pitcher of beer at the local no-longer-a-dive dive bar. Tonight, it's dinner at a local Mexican restaurant; apparently, there's not a lot of good, authentic Mexican cuisine in the Chicago 'burbs.

I've forgotten how much fun it is to have houseguests. Anyone else wanna come visit? (You might wanna wait till the fires are out...)