A phone photo of a view of Gray Wolf Peak this morning seen through a haze of wildfire smoke.
Western Montana is experiencing what has come to be known as the fifth season, the smoke season. The mountains seem to be barely present as a faint whisper of themselves. It is like looking through gauze.
It is a time of transition. This last week when I walked outside grasshoppers rose from powdery dust on the roads. I could hear the thud of heavy pine cones falling from the 100′ tall Ponderosa. The squirrels are busy.
This area of Montana is getting smoke from fires in the West including Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Canada. Earlier today near where I live the air was classified as “unhealthy” with a MT DEQ air quality health effect catagory description:
| Unhealthy (151-200) |
Air pollution levels are unhealthy for all people. Health effects on sensitive populations can be serious. | Everyone benefits from remaining in a clean indoor air space. Shut windows and doors. Activate indoor air filters. If outdoors, keep activities light and short in duration. Retreat to an indoor clean air space if symptomatic. |
We’ve been fortunate that for most of the summer we haven’t had too much smoke but recently that has changed. The drought conditions, the hot dry weather and smoke trigger familiar sensations—a kind of opaque weight and a yearning for clear skies and rain.
There is the constant sound of the air filter running inside the house and a night a steady loud song of crickets.
(For resources to help deal with wildfire smoke check out Climate Smart’s MONTANA WILDFIRE SMOKE website).
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Late this afternoon my husband and I drove north to Mission Dam and the air was a bit clearer. We took little folding kayaks out on the reservior.
The sound of paddles moving quietly through water and the flap of Merganser wings.
As we returned home tonight there was a welcome drenching rain and a softening of the dryness.
