Driving home from Roanoke Island today, I came across a flashing DOT sign that read, “Caution: Dense Smoke Ahead.” I’m pretty sure I saw the same signs on the way into Manteo the day before, but today it made a little bit bigger impression. Had I taken the time to turn on the television in my room at the Scarboro Inn, without air-conditioning; I may have known about the DOT’s Alert to drivers. Alas, I did not… in fact, I was unaware just how bad the situation was until I was well into the smoke cloud. Speak of the smoke cloud, I have attached for your viewing pleasure a video showing the smoke at its worst. I’ve driven through my fair share of thick fog, but today’s drive through the smoke was definitely denser than the thickest fog I’ve ever seen.

The audio for that clip is David Bazan’s Please Baby Please, made available by David himself via his website. The track is part of a bootleg set from his performance on 11/04/07 at Grey Eagle in Asheville. This song will be available on a new album under the band name “David Bazan’s Black Cloud” sometime in early 2009.