Swallows and visitors

These are dangerous times. It's wildfire season here in British Columbia. We live in the Cariboo Chilcotin where the forests are tinder box dry. Bug killed pine is everywhere and this means fuel for fires. There were fires raging about 10 days ago... since then the rains have come. It's a wonderous thing and we need lots of it. It's been a little cooler too the last couple of days which is a big help. Information on wild fires in the remote areas of BC is scant at best. It's hard to know exactly where the fires are and in what direction they are headed. Thick smoke settles in for days at a time. Ahhh, the sound of rain on the roof. The comforting darkness of rain clouds overhead. David and I recently had a visit from our daughter and son-in-law. A wonderful visit ~ we hadn't seen each other since last year at this time. There was a magical moment just as we were all saying goodbye. For the last few days of our visit we had all been keeping an eye on a baby swallow who left his nest a little too soon and was grounded on the lawn at the corner of the house. He'd been there for a few days and nights with his parents swooping in to feed him and dive bombing us if we came near the little guy - this was reassuring in that we were pretty certain he would make it alright. Then on the morning of CA and Cam's departure, as the four of us walked out of the house and went to check on the grounded swallow - we took a few steps towards him and the little one took flight. A strong unfaltering flight. A wonderful sight.