A thick smoky haze hangs heavy over the city. It's hot and dry, causing people to be snappy and short. The air is so tense you can feel it.
The light coming through my window is orange, and I can look directly at the sun, the smoke is so thick. The building across the street is a hazy blur and the only other building as far as I can see... Has the city been reduced to these 2 buildings? There is very little street noise drifting up, which leads me to believe that it's almost deserted. If it wasn't for a few others in this office quietly whispering on the phone about the condition of the air outside, I would think this close to the end of the world.
It seems that all of Australia is on fire.
Victoria; Mt beauty, our alpine region is on fire, which is causing the smoke over Melbourne. Canberra has had terrible fires. Not a month ago Sydney had tragic fires. The country is dry, and with the weather only getting hotter, it is a worry as to the future.
I recall Ash Wednesday the last big fires we had in Victoria. They burned for 3 days, and didn't do as much destruction as the fires in Canberra. The night a fire storm swept our back neighbours lot was horrifying but it didn't encroach onto our side of the fence. It scared me, and I will never take fire safety lightly again, and t shocks me to the very core to think that some people do.
Reports are in that a lot of homes failed to have insurance against fire, and this is a story that keeps getting repeated. How can this happen? Do people really think it won't happen to them? The old adage of 'at least we are alive' is little consolation when all you have left in the world is the clothes you fled your now smouldering house in.. and maybe the family pet. How are you going to house that child who is clutching to you like a bewildered monkey now?
I hope the world is sunny and happy where you are sitting reader, cause it is not fun here.