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 .

ICE CREAM

       Tomorrow is International Ice Cream Day. I love ice cream. In fact , my family has liked ice cream for three or four generations.

       Last  week was a family reunion. Not a reunion like in the old days with many people. This reunion had 25  people. I could not make it as I don't drive very far anymore. My two children did not make it as one is in Chicago and one on the west coast.

    They did set up  messenger feed for me so I got to  see all the people and activities. I also had some good chats. 

    Oh ya! this post started out on ice cream. I got lost. So for the reunion somebody showed up with a three gallon tub of ice cream. Other people showed up with their favorite toppings. Sorry  I missed it.

   When I was a child in the late 40's , we did not have electricity and therefore no freezer where we could keep ice cream.  We did make our own ice cream and we could buy ice cream. Dad  would come home with a brick of ice cream and we would eat it right away before it melted. A brick of ice cream was similar in size  to a pound of butter.

    There were  also huge insulted containers which were used to ship ice cream. It would keep the ice cream frozen for a few days.

    Did I ever tell you I like ice cream?

    Happy International Ice Cream Day.

CHANGE

                   Things do not change; we change.

                                                                  Henry David Thoreau

BELIEF

            A belief which leaves no place  for doubt is not a belief, it is a superstition.

                                                                               Jose Bergamin

         There's some pretty deep thought from Bergamin on this quote. When I'd copied this quote I missed the author. I found out that all I needed to do was google it.

       So far some of these quotes have been humor and some advice and others comments on life.

ENEMIES

            If you  want to make enemies, try to change something.

                                                                    Woodrow Wilson

           Woodrow Wilson was an American president. Many progressive changes were made under his administration so I guess he experienced making some enemies.