Five simple things

Hello.

We have had the worst time here in the Willamette Valley with smoke from the wildfires that flank us all around. There's one burning in Medford, Oregon, one near Detroit Lake, one in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, and another one in Easter Oregon near Bend, Oregon. There's a lot of smoke here from the British Columbia fires too. The breathing conditions here are less than okay. Our eyes are so red and they burn from time to time. This summer has been a hot one here and we hope the wildfires can get under control. One a positive note, we had a little bit of lightning last night and a bit of rain fell about 2:00 a.m. The sidewalk outside our front door was a bit wet, but as soon as the sun came up it was dry. Here's hoping we will get some more showers sooner than later. With that, here are the things that made this week great!

1. This skyline

Believe it or not, those aren't all clouds. Some of that in the sky is smoke. The sun setting on it though made it look pretty. I almost feel guilty posting that it was pretty because of how bad the conditions are where the wildfires are. Hopefully, they will get some relief soon.

2. This view

This is a shot of downtown Brownsville, Oregon. This is the area of the town where parts of Stand By Me was filmed. This day and this view reminded me of the scene where River Phoenix and Will Wheaton's characters come out of the store and are confronted by Kiefer Sutherland. With the older-style truck out front it took me back to that movie at that moment. Stand By Me Day is every year here on July 23. (If you remember, another movie was filmed here that The Bean was part of)

3. This kid

The Bean had his state test on Thursday and he is now an eighth grader. I am so proud of him and the young man he is becoming, but it's hard to think of him as an eighth grader already. Unbelievable! The Mr. and I sometimes look at each other and say, "how did this happen so quickly..."

4. This house

A historic home here in Lebanon caught fire and was a total loss. This town doesn't have a lot of historical homes left, so this one is quite a sad one. It was built around 1912 and was part of the historical housing system here in the town. Unfortunately, homes built in this time period didn't have fire stops and once it hit the walls the house was completely engulfed in flames. Such a shame.

5. This smoke

And lastly, speaking of flames, we've been dealing with quite a lot of wildfires here and the breathing conditions are getting worse. As I stated above, these conditions have made the burning eyes one of the worse complaints here, especially in our home. We are keeping fingers crossed for some rain and a little bit of wind to help blow some of these smoky skies away. The sign below should tell you how bad it has gotten here in Oregon and other parts the last few weeks. Our family will definitely be doing a rain dance in the coming days.