World on Fire

So remember when I was all panicked about the potential forest fire that my neighbor started? Well, now there are real forest fires everywhere. It seems like the entire state of Idaho is burning. My aunt and one of my uncles had to retreat back to the Washington coast because of the poor air quality, but my Uncle George and I are still holding down the fort, putting up siding, and hoping that the fire that just closed a road 6 miles away doesn't get any closer. It's horrible. My view no longer exists. I can't see the mountain right across the valley because the air is too brown and thick with smoke. Before he left, my uncle Jim, a former firefighter, actually woke up one night convinced that the house was on fire because the smell of smoke was so strong. Everything cleared a little on Friday after a nice rain storm, but the smoke is back now, as bad as ever. I woke up with a sore throat again, and cursed lightning and careless humans, and felt, for the first time in my life, that I was ready for summer to end already, if only it meant that my world would stop burning.