It’s quiet outside, similar to the quiet of snowfall, but without the fun of possible snowball fights and snow angels. It’s quiet because of all the smoke. The sky is an odd shade of yellow gray, almost a sepia tone. When we go outside we put on KN95 masks. They do a good job of filtering the smoke. But the ponies and the dogs don’t have masks, so we are trying to limit their activity, keeping the ponies in the barn, keeping the dogs in the house, keeping them quiet. But the berries still need to be picked. Gardens still need to be watered. Animals need to be cared for, so we go out and we focus on the task at hand. Not on the sky, not on the smoke, just on getting through the day.