Re: The weather's been lovely lately

101
Right now it is.....84F in my "neighborhood", (the Phoenix metro area.)
That is actually about 10 degrees below normal (thank God).
By way of comparison, around this time last May the temps were between 112F and 118F for days on end.
Those temps WILL come sometime in the next 4 months (not a question of "if", only of "when") but the later they come, the better.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

102
Off and on for the last few weeks, here in the central US we've been getting haze from the Canadian wildfires. Yesterday Chicago (about 140 miles north-northeast of me) was designated as having the worst air quality of any major city on this planet.Yesterday and today, the air quality locally was classified as "extremely dangerous." Before this summer, I don't ever remember air quality alerts in downstate Illinois. Now, people with breathing issues (like me) are being told to stay indoors.

Val, can't you go put those fires out? :(
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

103
I wish I could, my friend, I wish I could. :'(

What I'd really like to do is catch the careless (and the purposeful) jackasses that are causing these fires and go biblical on them. Given how much our country (and my province in particular) has been devastated by wildfires in the last few years, I truly feel that these idiots deserve no less than to be tied to a post and set ablaze themselves. It's been established that between 60 to 70% of the wildfires here every year are human-caused, and to me, that's just sheer insanity. :angry: :club:
This Space for Rent

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

104
I'd like to think it's carelessness, not intentional, but some people are just evil. Obviously we have forest fires on our side of the border too, along the Pacific coast, and occasionally some of them are believed to have been set. The havoc it causes is heartbreaking. I think most people tend to think of it in terms of property damage, but I think of those ancient trees and the ecosystem they create, and how that is all swept away. I know a certain amount of burning is natural and necessary, but anymore it's excessive.

Thinking now of the late great Gordon Lightfoot (one of the greatest of all time) and his classic Canadian Railroad Trilogy. That song is always very stirring to me, with the melody, the ringing guitars, his spectacular voice, and the evocative lyrics, in particular:

"When the green dark forest was too silent to be real"

I think that really captures, in just a few words, the majesty and mystery of the great northern forests.

I can't recall if I've mentioned before, but the number of great musicians that Canada has produced is far, far out of proportion to its relatively small population. :thumbs_up
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

105
Just these days the smoke from the fires in Canada has also reached here to the Canary Islands, and I have seen on the TV news that it is also reaching mainland Spain (Continental Europe).

Yesterday we had a kind of haze what could be seen on the street, but the weather service says that this time it was not because of the dust from the Sahara, but because of the smoke that has crossed the Atlantic. Incluso parece que se huele un poco el humo. The fires must be really huge, I'm sorry. The fires have been in the news here as well, but they don't talk about it much and you don't see the true extent of the fires.

Today there is much less smoke, it can still be seen in the environment when you look in the distance, the horizon over the sea, and in the most distant mountains of the valley where I live, but less than yesterday.

I hope those responsible are found and punished, and I hope they can control the fires soon and the forests can recover.

In my country, with the climate with recurrent droughts that we have, there are also a lot of fires every year and many are not only due to irresponsible carelessness, but are also intentional. It saddens me that these things happen and become so big (like big fires in Australia from a few years ago which were devastating too) and I don't understand how there are people who can cause something like this.

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

108
Hi everyone, long time no see. Here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, we have barely seen the sun in four days. Detroit and the surrounding areas have been covered in haze most of the day, and the air smells a bit like a campfire. I've been mostly staying indoors. We are getting a big rain today that will hopefully sweep away some of the smoke. I continue to wish for an end to the burning. It's sad to think of all that beautiful forest burning up.
"Remember, the force will be with you, always."

Re: The weather's been lovely lately

111
Fingolfin wrote: Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:11 am We have the stifling humidity here, too! Walking outside this morning felt like walking into a sauna. It felt more like Florida than Michigan.
O.M.G.
It's...it's.....it's a Fingolfin. From the past.
Well how the heck are you?
Oh...wait, wait....
We don't hear from you from years and years (at least not on this forum ....do you frequent FoU?) and now you suddenly show up...??? ...like it's nothing and no time has passed at all?
OK...you want something, right? ...What is it you want? :club:

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL
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