Don't Let the Smoke Get in Your Eyes...

 If you ever wondered what life would be like if you lived in your backyard smoker, it might be something like this.

This was sunset last evening. The odd thing is there are no fires close by.  That's how bad it is. 

Everything reeks.  Your clothes, your hair. Your eyes sting and your throat is raw. The temperatures have been in the high 90s and 100s for weeks now. There is no rain in sight.

 Our president says these fires need urgent attention.  They've been buying out of control for how long now? The problem is we're running out of firefighters!

I have a theory about climate change. For all those who think deadfall should just stay put, this is the end result of that thinking.  It's tinder dry and fuel for fires that are destroying homes and decimating wildlife.

Those who say we'll all be dead in ten years or so if we continue at our current pace, that may be true but not for the reasons they preach. It will because there will be no farms left to produce food, nor wildlife left to maintain balance. It will be just one big, charred landscape brought about by those who think they know more than land management professionals and mandate ridiculous policy. 

The smoke has fogged their eyes and brains for longer than I care to think...

That Lucky Old Sun Has Nothin' To Do Except Make the Rest of Us Miserable!

Whew and whew again! We're going on three weeks now where out temperatures have soared into the 100s every single day.

I don't know what we did to make the ole sun unhappy, but he's doing a pretty good job of making us miserable for it.  I live in the Inland Northwest where averages this time of year are in the very temperate 80s.  Not so this year.

All my good intentions of reviving this blog are on hiatus until things settle down.  My office is in our shop which is not air conditioned so I depend on what cool a fan can generate. I can tell you, it's not enough to stimulate creativity nor good humor nor staying power.

I try to spend a bit of time tending to business regardless of the heat but it's usually very short lived.  On top of that, this is summer in the west which means the entire region is on fire.  The wind is hot, the air acrid with smoke from the wildfires and my eyes itch like crazy. Not a good combination.  The only saving grace is I don't have to wear a mask!  That would be the last straw. 

Seeing Things Clearly Through The Smoke

Summer is here and along with it fire season.  Living in the West you soon get used to it as an annual occurrence.  A devastating one at that.

Not only does it destroy millions of acres of forest and grass lands,  it displaces wildlife and destroys homes.  Peoples entire lives can go up in smoke in a matter of minutes.

This summer we've one right up the road.  Maybe 10 miles from where we live.  It's roaring up a steep mountainside just north of the tiny community of Bayview on  the east side of Lake Pend Oreille.

The air is thick with smoke.  Even here my eyes sting and my throat is scratchy.  Nothing, I'm sure, compared to what exists closer in.

What strikes me, as it always does, is the spirit of the people who are directly involved.  I wrote just a few days ago about how this area has heart.  Well, it sure does now.  And not just here but all across the region where wild fires are raging.

Neighbors help neighbors over and above what shelters provide.  They help clear homes, take care of live stock and pets, offer helping hands where ever needed.  The news is filled with people shaking their heads over the generosity of others.  It's that sense of community.  Communities with heart.

So what happens when the fire is over and people are left to put their lives back together?  Much the same.  People helping people.  It doesn't stop because the fire is out.  They rebuild and make things better.

It's something lost on our political class.  I'd like to see every last one of them don the yellow shirts of the fire fighters and join the lines.  Find out first hand what hard work really is.  What hard work really is when it's being done for someone other than themselves. Experience first hand that sense of community and even bask in the glow of appreciation that comes from those communities even if nearly everything is lost.  They've appreciated the effort.  And that's why you were on the line.  To work.  For them. Not yourself.

Maybe lighting a fire under the politicians is the wrong tactic.  Maybe we should just make them fight a real one where their life is at stake - all for others.  Then maybe they'd begin to understand what this country is about.

I won't, however, hold my breath.  Right now it's difficult enough to breathe.  It would be a breath of fresh air though, wouldn't it?