No, that’s not an eerie full moon rising, it’s an even eerier not quite setting sun. The skies all over in Northern California are filled with smoke due to hundreds of burning wildfires. I thought it was pretty freaky I could shoot at the sun and not completely blow out highlights—or my retina. (Despite the smoke, looking through the viewfinder directly at the sun probably wasn’t the most intelligent thing to do). Usually summers here in the Sacramento Valley have several days of unhealthy air, due to auto exhaust and high temperatures, but this feels worse, and downright odd.

One of the fires further north is threatening the home of one of our beloved Planet Deke colleagues. Team Deke is sending out our strongest heat-shield, fire-retardant, force-field energy to Toby and others whose homes (and persons) are threatened by the fires. The particular fire threatening Toby’s homestead is one of those going entirely unmanaged.