Bushfire

I live`in the middle of the bush (aka forest), so during the hot dry summers we have here, bushfires are seldom far from our minds. Today, thanks to a change in the wind, the air is bright and clear. Yesterday we were engulfed in a pall of thick blue smoke. This signalled that we were down wind from a big bushfire. At times we could also smell it. It was not the smell of dry eucalypt leaves burning which instantly evokes nostralgia in all true Aussies, but the pungent odor of green vegetation burning fiercely not far away. Happily there was no sign of water bombers . Once they turn up you know that the fire is really close. When the wind changes it is good news for some but bad news for others who may be in the path of this new wind direction. Today houses in a nearby town are being threatened. Hopefully none will be lost and nobody will be killed or injured. We will all have to remain on the alert until this fire is finally brought under control.