Smokey Haze

Sunday, September 05, 2021 —(On September 20, the full moon, “Harvest”, will rise nearest to earth.)

In the West continues this “burning season”:

Opening a door to outside smells like your deck is on fire.

Haze blocking distant landscape features turns faraway into “ongoing nowhere”.

Burning eyes are painful and undoubtedly more so nearer the Caldor and Dixie fires.

Water is scarce. During these historical lows less is allotted less and what’s used costs more. We wonder about the possibility of and how long it may take to recover enough of this precious resource.

Despite worries about resources and economics, we continue attempting to live normally.

Since my horses have new shoes, they’re again being hitched and driven. Now in action, it’s a little different. Each sneezes more, and periodically, Rosie leans forward and coughs. Hopefully the sneezes and coughs are because of smoke-filled air, not basic health issues.

Today begins as unusually smoky. Earlier, on opening a door to let the dogs outside, an immediate smell suggested the deck might be on fire. The atmosphere, widely murky, suggested a larger story of perhaps a new wildfire nearby.

Annually we’re hounded by wildfires and water shortages. This year seems more awful. One wonders, are conditions really worse? Or do they seem so because of communicating technologies that have improved, so that now, all together we’re “in the moment”.

Dear Friends: Other current severe climate factors are also compounding local impacts. Diana