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| Why leave green for red? |
In a recentish post I wondered aloud what drought conditions this spring portended for fire conditions this summer. A rhetorical question, really: it could only mean something bad. And bad it has been. The Dixie Fire, which has been burning since mid-June, is now the second largest fire we've ever had in California, and continues to grow by leaps and bounds, as shown in this terrifying visualization:
That smoke blanketed our planned vacation spot, so we went to the Mendocino coast and sat in the gray for a few days, watching AQI values tell their sad story, before converting the remainder of our vacation week into a staycation. And here's the kicker: this is the second summer in a row we've redirected to the coast as our mountain camping plans have been overtaken by events. It may be that the drought will retreat and the fire patterns lessen. More likely, though, this is the new reality, and redirected vacations only one of the smaller sacrifices it will demand.
