September Moon

No, I haven’t lost my interest in blogging, but I will admit life has been all too busy lately to find time for it. We had our shed and deck painted a couple of weeks ago. I feel as though we’ve been in catch-up mode ever since the painter arrived earlier than we expected. And then the fall rains started a month early and there was yard work to hurry up and do.

The sun has returned. Yesterday we drove to the Oregon Coast. Coming back the moon rose when we were driving through the Oregon Coastal Range. Big beautiful orange moon. Technically I think it was one day past the full moon, but I couldn’t see any slimming yet. Fall moons are my favorites. Usually we have a little smoke in the air to add color, and I find it extra beautiful when there is still a touch of light in the sky when the moon rises. Later it will rise in full darkness. I scribbled a rough moon in my journal and wrote down color notes so that I could paint this last night and today.

And just a quick comment about the smoke, since the rains have soaked us thoroughly and yet we still have smoke. We get lots of somewhat smoky days. Too many for my taste. Often wildfire season starts in Aug. We were fortunate this year in that those that started near here were put out quickly. Then as soon as the fire hazard drops a little, field burning starts. They regulate it pretty carefully so field burning is usually kept under control, but the air can get pretty awful. Once the rainy season really starts we still aren’t out of smoke. A lot of brush clearing results in brush piles. Brush piles are left after logging and, in the past few years, a lot of undergrowth is being cleared to keep the fire hazard down – more brush piles. They put a sheet of plastic on top to each brush pile to keep a portion dry. Once the forest is really wet, they start burning brush piles. And by then quite a few people in town are heating their houses with wood and that adds more smoke. It is by far the smokiest place we have ever lived.