The house we rent was built in 1902. It's old, quaint and fairly tiny. Well, by American standards, anyway. It's about 650 square feet, which is small for two people and two English Labs. Our living room has 3 very large picture windows, each about 6' tall. The center panel is about 4' wide and the side windows are about 2' wide. They show a beautiful view of the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range and are just about my favorite part of the house during a snowstorm (the old antique-ish gas-burning stove that looks like real fire sits a few feet to the left of these windows).

Tonight, as Jeremy was fixing dinner, I was in the living room, looking out these great windows and saw what every person in the high desert dreads: Smoke. Like, wildfire smoke. And close .. uncomfortably close. I called Jeremy in and, being the photographers we are, we threw dinner half-prepped in the fridge and ran out the door with the cameras. It was a brush fire next to a home about a mile away (maybe a little less). Tons of fire trucks and police cars and other emergency response vehicles. I fully intended to post the photos here ...

until we got home. We'd been having problems with Britley jumping up with muddy paws on our electronics cabinet in the living room and just recently discovered why she was doing it. She was trying to see out the front windows! So now we leave the blinds on the left-hand panel up about a foot. Problem solved! As I got out of the car, I luckily had the forethought to prep the camera and catch this shot. The only way it could have been better would have been if Dante pushed his way in behind her to peek through the window. This is my family, my world, my reasons for smiling and feeling loved every single day. I am so lucky. :)