FIRE IN THE SKY

Last week so many parts of California were on fire including the beautiful Big Sur which I recently had a chance to visit.  This year, we have such a dangerous season and rain is still an unanswered prayer. We have a saying "April Shower Brings May Flowers"... and that was a wishful thinking as well.   I took several pictures of the sky during last week and then recreated it here upon a rolling hill between Livermore and Fremont.  Here, I also quoted AP's report on the fire just to remember these days in the future.

(AP, June 29, 2008) "The Big Sur fire has burned about 32,500 acres (13,150 hectares) and destroyed 16 homes since it was sparked by lightning on June 21, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Firefighters have contained only 3 percent of the flames and the Forest Service could not estimate when the fire would be brought under control.

A 10-mile (16 km) stretch of the coastal Highway 1 was closed for a fourth day, and the community of Big Sur remained threatened. Evacuation advisories were issued throughout the area, but the local chamber of commerce said most businesses were still open.

Big Sur is heavily wooded, with steep slopes running down to the Pacific Ocean. The terrain creates one of California's most dramatic landscapes -- and slow going for more than 1,000 firefighters on the scene.

Its 90-mile (145 km) stretch of coastline lies between the quaint town of Carmel in the north and San Simeon, home of Hearst Castle, to the south. The area is a popular destination for campers, surfers and nature lovers. Novelist Henry Miller lived there for 18 years.

A library honoring Miller's legacy said it was closed until further notice. The Esalen Institute, a spiritual retreat frequented by Jack Kerouac and Joan Baez, said it was closed at least until Sunday. But Hearst Castle said it was still open.

A total of 31 fires were burning in California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center of Boise, Idaho, covering 333,838 acres (135,000 hectares), an area 23 times the size of Manhattan.

The biggest fire, covering 60,000 acres (24,300 hectares) at Los Padres National Forest, to the east of Big Sur, was about 89 percent contained, and was expected to be completely under control by Thursday, according to the Forest Service.

California fire officials are bracing for a busy fire season, which the weekend's lightning strikes started sooner than expected, because the state's rainfall has been below average for two years, leaving grass, brush and timber bone dry in many areas. (Reporting by Dean Goodman, editing by Anthony Boadle)"

ลองถ่ายรูปท้องฟ้าช่วงไฟป่าเมื่อสัปดาห์ก่อนไว้ แล้วมาซ้อนไว้บนเส้นทางที่เต็มไปด้วยหญ้าแห้งเพราะขาดน้ำ จะได้เห็นว่าช่วงนี้ไฟป่าน่ากลัวแค่ไหน ก้นบุหรี่เพียงอันจิ๋วก็คงจุดแม่พระเพลิงให้โหมได้ในพริบตา