Smoked Beef

Last Summer Solstice, we were hit with tremendous dry lightning storms which ignited fires all over the state, but especially here in Mendocino county. I posted quite a number of images on Willits Daily Photo at the time, and the smoke was miserable for weeks. These images didn't make the cut back then, but you can see some smoke in the valley behind the cattle. It was a reminder that our animals are at nature's mercy too. The closed poppy was fully exposed to the mid-afternoon sun, but responded to the smoke-darkened skies contracting as if it were in shade.