Eclipse mania.......or not.........

So, I have no photo of the eclipse because it was kind of a bust here - being in SW Oregon we were a bit south of the direct path but we were to see a 94% eclipse. We did go sit up the hill with our neighbor to watch it but we have so much danged smoke, so so much smoke that it was not great for viewing. We did see a red sun in the smoke and the moon crossing in front of it but we didn't experience any darkness because it was already dark out due to the smoke. It did get colder for a bit. This afternoon we decided to do a Costco run over in Medford - I-5 traffic was the heaviest we have ever seen it in the 25 years we've lived in Southern Oregon - all those eclipse watchers from the north are heading home.


The fires in our region are so incredibly scary. There are so many evacuations all the way from the coast inland to Central Oregon. The fire on the other side of the closest one to us blew up a few days ago and continues to blow up - it is threatening the entire town of Brookings and it's outlying areas over on the coast. We have friends that have had to evacuate. This fire is in-between us and the coast. It could very easily be us evacuating if the wind shifted pushing it to the NE. There is very little that can be done at the moment because of the smoke - it is too thick for the tankers and copters to fly - emphasis is on protecting homes. Mid-day I heard 3 homes had burned - there will be an update from the Forest Service broadcast online at 6:00 - we'll be watching.


Please send positive thoughts this way for the families who have had to evacuate so many fires and those brave fire fighters fighting the fires.