It drifts ethereally through the forest like fog, playing with the morning light. At first I admire it. Then I smell it and my admiration dissipates. Smoke. It’s mid-summer, dry as a proverbial bone, and I smell smoke. It’s tempting to panic. I resist the urge. It’s not a lot of smoke. I check the emergency services website but it shows nothing close by. I ask a question on our local community WhatsApp group - does anyone know where this smoke is coming from? I’m met by a response that the big bushfire way off to the west of us is still burning and there is also a smaller one to the east. The consensus is that, given the wind direction, we are probably getting smoke from the one to the east. It’s far enough away that it is not a concern to us here. I check the address of the fire and realise that it is right near one of the houses we almost bought when we bought this one. It’s a sobering thought, but doesn’t mean much. Anywhere in the forested south west and south coast is a fire risk. Heck, anywhere out of the metro area is a fire risk and a lot of areas within it are too.
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