We Are Over the Hump

In these 4 p.m. photos, the sky is less blue, even though there is no obvious smoke. Though it's hot, we're getting a little cloudiness and a bit of humidity which, along with almost no wind, is keeping the smoke around longer. The air is nasty.

Other than a quick bite at our local iHop, we've been inside with the windows closed.

The fires are now all away from major population centers, for which we are grateful. I find myself thinking that if the wind had blown differently, these fires could have been catastrophic. Even though hundreds of folks have lost their homes, this could have been much, much worse.

The most hopeful sign was at 1 p.m., when our TV stations began to air commercials during their continuous news coverage. That's a sure signal that the worst is past.

Observation: When the governor announced to the crowd at the Qualcomm evacuation center that President Bush was coming tomorrow, I didn't hear any applause. Not even a smattering.