I went up to check on the trail camera, which I recently placed in a new and untried location, and was surprised to see a colorful sunrise unfolding. Glad I brought my camera.
It's been downright chilly in San Francisco the past couple of days, so I brought some extra clothes -- a pair of jeans, a longjohn top, a flannel shirt -- just in case. But the second surprise of the morning was stepping out of the car into extremely warm air and catching such a strong scent of burning fire that I looked upwind -- north -- for smoke. I felt sure the fire must be close, and I was poised to jump back in the car and git. It was only after I got home that Pam told me a huge new fire (the Valley Fire) had erupted in Lake and Napa counties, that hundreds of homes had already been lost, evacuations were being ordered, and a state of emergency had been declared.
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