Too Close

Last Thursday a storm passed over with high winds, thunder, and one very loud lightening strike, but not one drop of rain. Missed us again, or so I thought. While fixing dinner and expecting Pat any minute, I occasionally glanced out the kitchen window for any sign of life on the drive, which always includes snakes. On one such glance, a streak of red a mile or so away on Hastings' Ranch caught my eye. I quickly grabbed the binoculars (there's a pair on every window sill) and confirmed my fear--fire! Not only fire but fire only yards away from hundreds of bales of freshly stacked hay. The rows of hay lie just yards away from Ed and Sue's house. I called Pat expecting that he was somewhere nearby so he could stop and lend a hand. He said he saw firetrucks just ahead and wondered where they were going. All's well then, help is on the way. Thankfully the fire was quickly extinguished without damage or injury.

On Saturday afternoon I remained tucked inside the house while the temperatures rose into the nineties. On the south side of the house all the blinds were securely closed keeping the sun at bay and the house a bit cooler, but also obscuring my view. It wasn't until Luna needed a pee break that I noticed a 1/4 mile line of fire about a half mile south of the house. Thick black smoke rose darkening the sky as Luna and Cali strolled along completely oblivious.

Fortunately we were upwind and (hopefully) out of harms way. Fire trucks from miles around arrived pumping gallon after gallon... My phone began ringing as friends in Great Falls called after seeing the fire on the evening news--wanting to know how close...

"Too close" was my answer. On the flat windswept prairie, the rule is--if you can see smoke, it's too close. And so it is.