Up In Smoke

I don't know how much of this news is making it down to the lower 48...but 2.5 million acres of Alaskan forest has burned down so far this year. That is actually not that much when you think about the total amount of forest in this state and is nowhere near our record (6.5 million acres in 2004) but the smoke is getting ridiculous. Forest fires are part of the natural cycle of a forest's life...but the smoke is coming into town and causing some problems. I grabbed a camera and tried to shoot some pictures, but the lighting was pretty bad. The sun is actually setting now, but it is hard to tell how much of our darkness is due to the setting sun or due to the smoke. Here are a few pictures I managed to take:

Downtown Fairbanks:


Another from Downtown Fairbanks:


By Fred Myers:


These next two were taken from my friend's 5th floor apartment:




The smoke looked a lot worse about an hour and a half before I took these pictures, but I did not have my camera with me. If the smoke is as bad tomorrow as it was today, I'll try to take some more shots...the severity of the smoke is easier to see in the day time.

I cannot believe that this time last year I was in the Swamp Donkey with Stephen driving up to my new life in the Land of the Midnight Sun. This last year has flown by! I have learned so much and have experienced a lot of great things. In retrospect, I am still glad I moved up here; 365 days and no regrets. I miss family and friends at times...but modern technology helps keep in touch. I hope everyone out there in blogging land is having a great summer (I may have written that in my last post...but I still mean it.)

Rock on,
~Mr. Lockwood