-Maya Angelou
The sky around the Bay Area was really hazy yesterday, and it is expected to be so today as well. There are 6 major wildfires in California right now, two of which are directly affecting the air quality here in the San Francisco area. In Livermore yesterday, visibility was down to just 2.5 miles. The two fires affecting us the most are the Moonlight fire, north of Sacramento, and the Lick fire, which is in the South Bay, near Mt. Hamilton. Both have left the sky with an eerie orange cast to it. Beautiful in a sense, and at the same time, really spooky to me. I have had a lifelong fear of fire, well, since I was 3 years old anyway. I remember that night so vividly, it was a late, hot summer night, in 1965, when I saw my father, and his carpool buddies, pulling our neighbor, and her children, to safety from their burning house. It brings back some memories, and some fear. It's a strange thing, as frightened as I am, I have a desire to see the fire up close. I doubt I will be able to get too close, but there are a lot of safe vantage points, where I might be able to snap a couple photos of the smoke.
One thing about the smoke and haze, it made it possible to for me to get some photographs of a butterfly I have been trying to get for most of this summer. The Red Admiral. Because of it's dark colors, I had been finding it difficult to photograph it without it being washed out against the colors of the flowers it frequents. It is such a pretty butterfly, but it has been very good at both teasing me, and then evading me, so I had that working against me as well. Silly butterfly!
I found the Red Admiral in Golden Gate Park at the start of the summer, and have made taking it's photo a goal. When I finally got a got a good chance the other day, I tried to get shots from as many angles as possible, and I did pretty good I think, but I want to do better, so it is still on my list of goals, right along with capturing a perfect photo of a bumble bee in flight. The Dahlia garden in GGP will be around until the end of October, and according to my information about the butterfly, the Red Admiral should be as well, so I will keep at it. The exercise is good for me, and it is a great distraction from...well...things I need to be distracted from. LOL. You know by now what pushes my buttons. :) There is nothing like music, and photography to bring my soul to peace. Watch the video!
"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time."
-Deborah Chaskin
Weather Sparks Concern For Lick Fire (KGO TV ABC)
Smoke From Fires Impacts Bay Area Air Quality (KGO TV ABC)
-OndineMonet
Red Admiral Butterfly
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
September 4, 2007
Afternoon
1 comment:
Wow, these are nice! I really like the line of color in the second shot.
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