Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

As I walked out to leave the house this morning, the sun was struggling to burn through the smoke from the Palm Springs area fire which has now grown to more than 24,000 acres. Southern Orange County smells like the inside of a fireplace since we're directly downwind from the fire area, which is at least 50 miles away.

The winds around home are calm, but I hear they're still fighting some pretty gusty conditions in the fire area. This thing is far from over.

I had to go down to San Diego County today, and once you were down in the Camp Pendleton area the skies were much clearer and the smell of smoke was gone. It was a glorious fall day with temperatures around 80 and not a cloud in the sky.

Heading back north though was a different story. The horizon was a gunky brown color, and as I got up to about the immigration checkpoint south of San Clemente (which they never seem to man anymore) I started running into the remains of 24,000 acres of brush and trees which were floating through the air. The sun is diffused and everything has a funny color to it because of the smoke.

I hope they don't end up canceling the football game tonight. Yesterday all sports activities at the high school were canceled due to smoke and ash, though the hard-working kids in the marching band had to stay at it. It was as much synchronized coughing and wheezing as it was marching and playing.

Tonight I'll go out on the field with my senior daughter and be introduced to the crowd as they honor the seniors in the band and football team. Three years ago I watched her march out onto the field for the first time and I must admit I got a little choked up. If it happens again tonight, I'm blaming it on the smoke.