FRIEND

       A real friend is one who walks in when the rest walk out.

                                                                 Walter Winchell.

                 I haven't heard about Walter Winchell for a long time.

SUMMER TIME

         Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.

                                                    Sam Keen

       Sam Keen 1931 to 2025 was an American author , academic and philosopher.

CIVIL LIBERTY

                    Man's fear of ideas is probably the greatest  dike holding back human knowledge and happiness.

                                                                               Morris Leopold Ernst

                     Morris Ernst was a lawyer and civil libertarian.

                    He was born in 1888 and died in 1976.

PATIENCE

      Patience is power; with time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes silk.

                                                         Chinese proverb.

     Patience goes a long way in many stages of our life.

FOREST FIRE SMOKE

        There is much complaining about forest fire smoke coming from Canada to the US. Smoke is one thing that causes poor air quality. There  are many conditions humans have that are made worse with poor air quality. I sympathize with these people.

     However , this is a bit of a rant. It bothers me greatly when complaints are made that 

Canada isn't doing enough to control forest fires.  In particular , le plus grand orange's comments bother me.

     What is burning in Canada is the boreal forest The boreal forest stretches right across the whole country. There  are no breaks . Good luck in fighting fires in the boreal forest. However, we make a huge effort. Just think of the size of this forest. Why is the smoke worse now? Just think climate  change. When I was a child in the 40' s, we had far fewer fires. I rarely remember smoke.

     We have had smoke here but the  air quality has not been terrible. I do not look at air quality numbers

    There are forests in the US but they are fragmented. The growth is different and the plants do not burn as easily as in a boreal forest.

     The boreal forest burns very easily as  the needles are dry.

    When I  start a camp fire I use paper. Aboriginals use dead spruce branches with the red needles. They call it gas. It blazes up   very rapidly.

    

ILLUSION

       Better a dash of illusion and a hearty appetite for life , than a feast of reality and indigestion therewith.

                                                          Henry A Overstreet

             Henry  Overstreet was an American writer and lecturer. He was born in 1875 and died in 1970.

SUFFERING

      Often it's just a lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.

                                                                                              Marcel Proust

        Think about this one as it says so much .