Today started off pretty good. R and I got up and headed up to Larkspur Colorado, which is a very tiny town about 30 miles north of our house. We were going to the Renaissance Festival. We like to do that every summer. It's always a nice day outside and a good excuse to eat steak on a stake and drink a little beer.
We have been having a heat wave though. It topped out at 100 degrees today which is just unheard of for Colorado. We stayed at the festival for about 4 hours and then the heat started taking it's toll on me. I kept getting dizzy and R was yelling at me to stay in the shade. Although there wasn't much in the way of shade to stay in. I am never very good in extreme heat, but I am also sick so it was a bit worse today.
I picked up a few little trinkets, which I was going to show you pics of. But when he headed towards home we could see a huge column of smoke rising up from the south west. The closer we got to home, the more we realized that the smoke was pretty close to Colorado Springs.
When we got home we turned on the TV. A fire had broken out in Waldo Canyon. Now if you have been following the news, you know that we have already had our fair share of fires in Colorado this year. This was coming on the heels of our flooding I posted about a couple weeks ago. We are having a rough time this year.
They were already evacuating parts of the west side of town, including our old neighborhood! By 8 PM they were saying 2000 acres were on fire, but they were confident that Manitou Springs wouldn't have to evacuate.
About an hour ago they evacuated the entire town of Manitou. The fire crested the ridge and started down this side. The above pic is not a pic I took. I hate borrowing other people's pics, but this is the most recent photo I could find so I snagged it. (My apologies to the photographer since I can't credit you! I don't know who took it.)
We are on the far east side of town, so we are in no immediate danger. However they have recommended that we all pack a bag just in case. Although honestly I have no idea where I would go with my pets. I don't think it will come to that, but you never know I guess. We have had high winds off and on and it could potentially blow our way. It's still about 25-30 miles from me. So I am not overly concerned. But I did go outside a little while ago and the smoke was so thick I couldn't see the end of my driveway clearly. It's since dissipated, and things are clear again for now.
I have a throbbing headache. In fact it's so bad I couldn't sleep. The price of allergies I guess. At this point the fire is 0% contained, and I am hoping and praying that they get it under control really soon. It's very scary even though it's a ways away from me. I feel terrible for the several thousands of people already evacuated. It's just a little too close for comfort.
I will update you when I can.
Posts
5 comments:
Oh man, hope they get that under control soon! I totally sympathise on the allergies too *sniff*
How frightening for you. We get very bad bush fires where I live as well, so I know the nervous wait.
Hugs
Oh my goodness... stay safe!!
I would be so paranoid, I'd already have everything that was most precious to me out in the car ready to go!
Oh, my goodness! That sounds scary! I can't imagine how frightening that would be. We live a bit in a rainforest in upstate New York and even we have been dry (for here)--which means that the grass is still basically green, but it has some yellow grasses mixed in with it rather than being a deep, deep green. I have even seen one or two people water their lawns this year--unheard of!
Take good care of yourself and know that many, many people are holding you in their hearts during this unpredictable time.
Heaps of Hugs,
Cheryl
Like you say a bit too close for comfort. i hope everyone is OK.
Post a Comment