Wednesday, May 09, 2007

So, this is our reality right now....


Fires. They're just all around us right now...I can't even tell you how many are going on just in Southwest Florida alone. The entire city has been in a haze of smoke for the past couple days. This is the view from just down the street from where I live. A bunch of fires started this weekend from all the lightning we had with the hellacious storms that brought lots of tornadoes and lightning, but very little rain. This is in Picayune Strand State Forest. My husband has been helping out at one of about 20 of the fires just down the road from us in Fakahatchee Strand State Park (this park is huge at about 80,000 acres, or something like that). He says the one he was on was 3 miles long, and they are expecting it to meet up with the fire above today. Ack.

People are getting arrested and fined for even throwing cigarette butts out of their cars, too. I believe a couple fires north of us started that way.

Then, there's that HUGE fire in South Georgia, not too far from where my parents live in North Florida. The smoke from that has actually reached ORLANDO. In the middle of the state. Can you believe it?

And hey, only a couple weeks until the official start of Hurricane season. Yay. Why do I live in Florida, again?

9 comments:

toners said...

Wow. Keep safe. When we lived in southern CA we dealt with this a couple of times a year' it's pretty scary stuff.

Amber Ulmer said...

o girl, that is scary. U stay safe, ya hear?! Thats the southern girl in me!
Ya, I lived in FL for 5 yrs. Was there for Hurricane Andrew. Crazy. Stay safe sista! xoxo

Maureen said...

Wow, that's not good. We had a bunch of grass fires here when it was so dry; started by trains no less! (sparks from the wheels lighting the dry grass along the tracks). Luckily, we had a lot of rain on the weekend and it's no longer a problem. Hope your area gets some relief soon!

Mandy Ford Art & Illustration said...

How scary! Hope they all get put out safely and quickly!!

Lynn said...

OMG...I have never heard of so many fires going on at one time in FL. I lived their 1/2 my life and never had seen anything like it. I'm keep you all in my prayers and praying that your dh stays safe especially while trying to tame these vicious fires. Hope your area gets some relief shortly.

Sara Berry said...

Oh, Penny, I had no idea all that was happening down there. I have seen CA on the news but nothing about you guys. Stay safe! I'll be thinking about you.

Tammy said...

P to the E,

So glad you updated! I was freakin...You're my girl, ya know.

LOVE-ADORE-WORSHIP your SOML work. Incredible!

The fires totally freak me out. Been catching the story on CNN and was thinking of you. So incredibly sad to know we are losing those awesome state parks to carelessness and mother nature.

Tell your hubby to be safe out there.

Missed you, ya know.
Tam

Deanna G. said...

oh man, that's crazy. i hope you and your hubby keep safe!

Vee said...

hang in there and please be safe!!