That’s how it seems! 

For the past two days, the typical summer morning fog has lifted from the San Francisco Bay to reveal skies that are still just as gray and hazy.  The stuff gathers at the hills in yellow-brown eddies, waiting for a breeze to lift it up and over to be deposited in the Livermore Valley. 

Every afternoon, my motorcycle seat is covered in fine, white ash… almost like snow.  You can’t really see it sifting down, but it sure does accumulate.  For a few days now, every breath brings the odor of cold ash and old smoke.  The news is warning folks with breathing problems like asthma to avoid outdoor activities althogether, and advising those of us with healthy respiratory systems to be careful.  It’s bad.

I heard this morning that there are about 1000 separate fires burning in the state right now, from the Oregon border to Monterey.  A fire map looks like a pincushion with all the little markers.  And it’s only June! 

What’s even stranger is to flip my news page over to the East Coast and have a look at North Carolina where at least two major fires are eating up wildlife habitat.  I’m used to CA burning in the summer time, but NC usually gets enough rain in the spring and summer to keep the big fires down.  Not this year, though.

I don’t know what all’s going on… but it’s looking like a rough year coming, and maybe more on the horizon.  Weather patterns have gone whacky, and whether we (humans) are adding to it or not doesn’t really matter right now… the fact is that something’s up and I think big changes are coming. 

The plants and critters seem to have known it for a couple of seasons now, as I have seen a couple of big upsurges in youngsters and seeds/fruit.  Acorns were as dense as I’ve ever seen last year, and the year before.  Lots of deer were showing twins, and the hogs seemed to have a ton of little ones running around too.  It’s like they know things are gonna get tough, and a lot of them won’t survive, so they’re seeding future generations as hard as they can go before it happens. 

Anyway, I’m not in a panic, as I know the planet has seen changes before and will see them again.  But I’m amazed at what I’m seeing in the relatively short span of my own lifetime… and wonder what our children and their kids will see in the future.  Kinda cool, but a little scary too. 

Meanwhile, the fires are licking at some of my hunting spots already.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as this habitat was born of fire, but it sure makes for a tough year waiting for things to settle back down. 

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