It rained hard last Thursday night!
The storm cleared the air enough so that on Friday we were able to go grocery shopping, even to the Farm Market. And on Saturday afternoon, the sun came out for a little while and the sky was blue. I even went for a neighborhood walk around the loop. The picture above is from earlier in the summer, but the sky was almost this blue on Saturday. I didn't take pictures because I was too busy appreciating the fact that I could breath fresh air.
River Road near Junction City
In fact, all pictures in today's post are from the archives. The little abandoned outbuilding is on a farm near the market where we shop for produce.
From the archives
I'm so grateful for the rain. I swear I won't ever fuss about gray days again as long as they are caused by rain, not smoke and ash. (Especially if there are rainbows after.)
Delta Ponds Pedestrian Bridge, near our neighborhood
Of course all is not sunshine and lollipops yet — over 700 structures were burned in the Holiday Farm fire which is still only about 10% contained. This fire, the closest one to us, is just one of the climate fires burning in Oregon. This one alone has burned (is burning) over 170,000 acres. The Red Cross has housed evacuees from the area in Eugene/Springfield hotels. (Some had other places to go, so the number of displaced people isn't known.)
And of course even if the skies are smoke-free we still need masks whenever we leave the house.
For that reason — and for many others — we can all use some spots of sunshine. Yellow flowers always brighten my day. Even when they are pictures from the archives. May these spots of sunshine on the ground brighten yours.
RIP, RBG.
LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts:
MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS
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