Today, there was a fire near Franschhoek, which is just over the mountain from our location in Stellenbosch. Unfortunately, there was a strong wind that fanned the flames and blew the smoke from Franschhoek to us. Now there is ash on the ground and the smell of fire everywhere. The odor reminds me of the end of a good campfire.
Near sunset, the smoke in the air gave an eerie yellow-orange glow to everything.
I took a few pictures of the event. The one shows billowing smoke in the distance. At the moment I snapped this one, the wind had shifted to blow most of the smoke away from us.
The next two photos show Tracy, Mark, and Catherine outside. I had the white balance of the camera set to "sunny," so these are true colors. Readers from Southern California will recognize the color of the light. It's a bit creepy. In fact, Catherine was a bit scared by it all: she needed her blanket and her stuffed leopard, (mis)named Duma (which is the Swahili word for cheetah). After a few tears, she consented to go outside if she was held in a parent's arms.
In the morning, I went with Mark to swim practice at 7 AM. After that, Tracy and I picked up a new car from Wilhelm's Auto. It is a blue Toyota Corolla with air-conditioning ("aircon" as they say here).
While in the shop, we took a peek at our smashed Nissan Sentra. Wow, what a mess! The front end is shorter by about about two feet: there is nothing in front of the wheels any more, the entire engine compartment is compressed. The dashboard is rather mangled, too. A banged up right side of the car explains the bruises on my right knee and right elbow.
The guys at the shop told us we were very fortunate to walk away with only aches and pains. Fortunate? Yes. Blessed? Undeservedly so.
--Matt