Fire Day

---

We didn’t get under way any faster than yesterday. For our walk this morning I thought I’d treat Oscar to a different view so we drove to the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Center and take one of their trails. By the time we got going it was already starting to heat up so we went on the shady trail to the river between the main land and Jupiter Island. The path was winding through the jungle and opened up onto this beautiful beach. Picture. The sand was like powder and there were these beautiful boats going up and down the river. I took some pictures of the houses over on Jupiter Island to show the mansions that they are. These belong to the millionaires, the billionaires have their houses on the ocean.
It didn’t take long before Oscar was too hot to take another short hike so I decided to take him home, get a sandwich, put my suit on and go to the beach. On the trip back into the park and my campsite there was smoke very close to the road. The park service was conducting a controlled burn just off the road so I stopped and took pictures and talked to the ranger setting the fire. Not to worry, I was safe on the road and the wind was blowing the other way. If the undergrowth gets too thick it chokes out all the other plants and just makes a disaster if lightening starts an unexpected fire. This burning happened in nature for centuries and is much healthier for all.
It is pretty scary to watch the huge plums of billowing smoke and the flames licking the tops of some dead trees. Pictures. When I drove out of the park on my way to the beach the smoke was getting more intense and I could actually see the smoke from the beach. I hoped it didn’t get out of hand and burn the campground and Oscar with it. But there were enough men and equipment on hand to prevent that.

The beach was beautiful again and I sat and had my sandwich and tea, collected shells and just watched the waves.

On the way home I stopped at the Jupiter Inlet Light and just took pictures. I didn’t feel like climbing the 100 stairs to the top. Nice looking lighthouse.
On the trip home again I was surprised to see what a thorough job the fire did. The underbrush is all gone and the saw palm and pines and bushes will come back. It’s not hot enough to burn these fire resistant plants.

After Oscar’s dinner we went for a nice walk in the cooling temps. It was 73 now and feeling almost cool.
Time to make dinner and settle in for the night.

---