I can’t believe I’m dealing with wildfires again. Only two years since the last time, although that was in a different location.

The schools here in Yucaipa closed due to the poor air quality our two local wildfires have caused. That means I’m not going to send the kids outside to play as I normally would. The air outside is just awful.

We have considered just leaving, of course. That’s one of the easiest ways to get fresher air for everyone involved. Even in the house the air isn’t that great after all, despite keeping all the windows shut.

This is a time that I give them a lot more leeway with regards to watching television – quantity, not the kinds of show, of course.

And in a little while my daughter’s going to have to do her homework for school.

I’m making sure that they do more than that, though. Take some time for reading. Time for creative play.

We’re really hoping the apple orchards survive, as it’s almost the start of their season over in Oak Glen. Last I heard they were mostly doing all right. We’re planning to go apple picking soon, so having the fire ruin those plans would be kind of hard.

We talk some about fires, of course. It’s a chance to talk about the directions the wind blows and how fire does some good things, even when it’s scary to have it so close to home.

We watch the fires a lot through our upstairs windows. We had an amazing view of the early hours of the Pendleton fire and a slightly less spectacular one of the Oak Glen fire. They’re both far enough away now that we mostly see smoke with just the occasional flareup visible on one hill or another.

And of course we talk about how these are impacting other people in Yucaipa.

Our thoughts are much with those harder hit by these and the other wildfires.