Love stone homes, we can all do better in all areas. The earth deserves better looking after.

eta I’ve never seen what you describe, but I’m sure it happens.

I know the railways have controlled burns along the tracks to prevent fires from passing trains.

The boreal forests are another thing.

maire_cate, after my cataract surgery, my doctor recommended Refresh or Systane eye drops. I have used both and prefer the Systane. Refresh feels "thicker" than Systane.

Thanks Murraysmom - DH picked up the Refresh this afternoon so I'll try it out to see how it feels!

I believe what love stone homes is referring to is a prescribed burn where if the firefighters can actually land into the fire they light a small prescribed fire in front of an advancing fire. What that does is it uses up the fuel for the advancing fire which will give it nothing to burn and helps to bring the fire under control.

You have to be able to get crews into the area safely and with the size of the current fire, the smoke in the air, wind conditions and the type of ground the fires are located (a mix of very dense forest, peatbog and rock outcrops) I'd say it's pretty damn difficult to fight.

One fire fighting technique that works for one fire can't necessarily be used in another.

Fighting an interior fire (Kelowna) would be very different from fighting a boreal fire. .

Yes, blfenton, I do believe that is what Love stone homes meant now that I read the comment again. I wasn’t sure about the “poor management” part of the comment.

I ignore the snipes.

The jet stream is weird. All day it was murky, and the sky was white, but the little bit I was out didn't bring tears to my eyes. But tonight it changed quickly, and on the 11 o'clock local news, our county and two more were no longer purple like the rest of the state but a deeper color like a dark maroon, which said hazardous. Stay indoors. This has never happened before. So the jet stream changes, but the fires don't go out, so this will be a recurring event all summer long.

I shake my head at the "willful negligence" meme roxsolid posted that somehow tariffs are going to fix this issue? This is where at least "tend your own garden" should apply if you are only going to accuse and not send help. But then I look at the source...y'know the guys who are slashing the programs to fight climate change like renewables and promoting dirty coal and gutting FEMA budgets to deal with these crises...who are now refunding the money collected from illegal tariffs -- that consumers paid -- back to the businesses who benefited from them. You can't make this stuff up. Kakistocracy. Only it's so bad, it's seemingly intentional.

Annie, that wasn’t a meme. That was written by your elected leader. I reposted it.

Anyhow, I’m sure if smoke taxes are collected from Canada, the money will be used for the health of Americans.😉

Love stone homes doesn’t understand anything about fighting forest fires. Also the need for fires and the SIZE of canada as compared to the US and how much of it is forest.

A funny meme that I did see was that if T wasn’t so against ”windmills” you guys could just blow the smoke back to us.

https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/news-releases/us-firefighters-continue-support-canada-during-record-breaking

And thankyou for any American firefighters who have been sent to help!

eta I just noticed this article is dated. Oops! But thanks for any assistance.^^^^

eta https://portal.ct.gov/deep/news-releases/news-releases---2026/deep-deploys-wildland-fire-crew-to-support-canadian-wildfire-efforts

Thank you

" who are now refunding the money collected from illegal tariffs -- that consumers paid -- back to the businesses who benefited from them. "

To be fair, the businesses didn't benefit from tariffs - in fact, many businesses (and their employees) suffered. Yes, it should go back to the consumers who paid for most of them (some businesses ate the tariff costs, especially early on), but at least he's paying them back rather than keeping the illegal tariff money (which was his first choice).

To be fair to us fact based biased folks. What I have noticed is that the price increases blamed on tariffs were not rescinded. And yes, many small businesses suffered from these policies.

What strikes me is that I can’t tell if I am looking at a clip from the movie Idiocracy or an article from The Onion but then when I explore further, it turns out that this is real life. Flabbergasted is my current state 🤷‍♀️

I will just hide in my bubble until a way to take action presents itself. Good luck with all that smoke up there. Sounds awful.

" What I have noticed is that the price increases blamed on tariffs were not rescinded. "

Prices go up like a rocket, but drop like a feather. :(

And it certainly doesn't help that we have a person in charge who denies climate change and makes drastic cuts to every environmental program, firing scientists and blaming California for not raking the forests last year.

Rox, I know you were joking about the tax funding health costs. I am being dead serious when I say I personally feel like my own government no longer cares about 99% of us. There was always some undercurrent of winners and losers in the past of course. But it is so brazen now, and yet still so many don't see it or refuse to believe it. It is horrifying.

I am sure this will get deleted, but I had to say it anyway. And before anyone accuses me of being on the blue side....I am not. I am an independent who historically voted about 50/50 depending on all kinds of factors in any given race.

Where we are now is such a farce.

Oh man, anyone else see the news that millions of acres of national lands in Utah are now ordered to be opened up for resource extraction? Like we need more of that 🙄

Where did you get the 'millions of acres' you stated? The rare earth mineral deposit was found on a 600 acre exploration area if that is the news you are referring to. This is great news if it keeps the US and other countries from relying on China for most of our rare earths.

He has removed the protected status of millions of acres. That opens it all back up to the potential for mining, etc. Yes, potential.

thanks for that FOAS. I only found the article about the rare earth mineral find that came out yesterday.

This is what co-pilot brought back about the rare earth discovery.

1. LikeDislikeA massive deposit of 16 critical minerals and rare earth elements has been discovered at Silicon Ridge in Utah County, potentially one of North America’s most significant finds.
   Overview of the Discovery
   The discovery was made by Ionic Mineral Technologies (Ionic MT) at the Silicon Ridge mine in the Lake Mountains, Utah County. The deposit spans a 600-acre exploration area within an 8,000-acre lease on Utah’s school trust lands and contains 16 critical minerals and rare earth elements embedded in halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay, a formation similar to those supplying 35–40% of China’s rare earth production and over 70% of the world’s heavy rare earths Deseret News+2.
   Minerals Found
   The deposit includes a wide range of critical technology metals:

• Gallium and Germanium – used in electronics, fiber-optic cables, and lasers
• Lithium, Vanadium, Tungsten, Niobium – essential for batteries, energy storage, and industrial applications
• Rubidium, Cesium, Scandium – used in advanced electronics and aerospace
• Light and heavy rare earth elements – crucial for AI chips, permanent magnets, defense systems, and green technologies Deseret News+3
  Independent assays from ALS Chemex confirmed an average combined rare earth and critical metals grade of 2,700 parts per million (ppm) in the clay fraction, which compares favorably to Chinese ion-adsorption clay deposits that typically range from 500 to 2,000 ppm MINING.COM.
• Strategic Importance
  This discovery is significant for U.S. resource independence, especially given recent Chinese export restrictions on gallium, germanium, antimony, and critical rare earth elements. The deposit could support AI, electric vehicles, defense technologies, and renewable energy initiatives, reducing reliance on foreign sources Deseret News+2.
  Extraction and Environmental Considerations
  The minerals are suspended in clay rather than hard rock, making extraction easier and more environmentally friendly. Ionic MT claims it can extract the materials with virtually zero waste, using no explosives or chemicals, representing a next-generation approach to responsible mining ionicmt.com+1.
  Economic and Future Potential
  The project is fully permitted, with a 74,000-square-foot processing facility in Provo. Only 11% of the resource area has been explored to a depth of 100 feet, indicating significant potential for expansion. A preliminary economic assessment is underway, with completion expected in the first half of 2026 MINING.COM. Experts suggest this discovery could spark further exploration for halloysite and rare earths across Utah, potentially creating a domestic “halloysite gold rush” Grist.Read less

It's reportedly 90% of the existing lands.

🤠 I hope PM Carney refrains from blowing smoke up anyone’s bottom today at the World Cup. Not a good move under these circumstances. Poor timing.

We all need Canada to remain the only adult in the room! Hopefully we can make amends and repair our friendship, soon. Very soon!

Agreed, Olychick. Thank goodness for PM Carney.

I normally wouldn’t post things like this, but talking smack can be fun.

I didn’t start this thread, we didn’t start the fire.

Hey! Isn’t there a song about that. 😄

My daughter and I hiked four miles, and she thought the air was good, but I didn't. Compared to other days this week when we could barely leave the house, it was not super hot, and there was low humidity. But my eyes burned the whole time, and I could see the haze. I'll see what our local meteorologists say on tonight's weather report.

We had the haze this morning but I wasn't outside long enough to feel any effects. And I don't have respiratory problems. Our air quality was 115 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.

Stay safe all!

We’ve had more rain, a small tornado last night, another one in the forecast for tonight. 😳 Quite a performance!

Our power was out from 11:00 last night until around just after noon today due to a fallen tree on a power line. 🤷‍♀️

Went out for a lovely breakfast, though.

”Alberta is seeing unusually wet and stormy summer weather, which has created conditions ripe for tornadoes.

Environment Canada has said that 25 tornadoes have been recorded across the province this year as of last week, which is about 10 more than Alberta and Saskatchewan usually see combined each year.”

Crazy stuff.

roxsolid, I hope you stay safe as well. Somehow I didn't associate Canada with tornadoes. Ignorant on my part.

Thanks, murraysmom.

Canada has 15 terrestrial and 5 marine ecozones!

I guess there’s no reason for you to know that, though. Don’t be hard on yourself. 🙂

I don't think of tornadoes in Canada either, but then again, I never heard of them in PA in the frequency we've been seeing them. Tuesday is another weather alert day with straight-line winds and possible tornadoes. Is this El Niño?

lily, I was living in Edmonton, Alberta when our ”Black Friday” hit. My husband was at work and I had to huddle in our basement with my 10 year old son and 4 year old daughter. It missed our neighbourhood, but the wind and hail was incredible and we were fortunate to only have a large trellis torn from our house. That was almost 40 years ago.

Black Friday" refers to the devastating F4 tornado that tore through the eastern parts of the city and Strathcona County on the afternoon of July 31, 1987. This tragic event—one of the worst natural disasters in Canadian history—killed 27 people, injured over 300, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

I’m not sure if El Nino was the cause.🤷‍♀️

We are still in NOTL Ontario. We had huge rains on Friday in places. It was hazy and very humid . I went out to do a short bike ride on the Heritage Trail its right by the house. I had a strong headwind for 3 miles then the trail pretty much stops out by the vineyards. I turned around and said ” whoa !”. The sky was black and I was glad I had a tail wind. I tore off along the trail back through the woods to the house and the rain started just as I reached the house but it only lasted a few minutes. We went up to St Catherine’s in the car and when we got back the sides of the streets were flooded. There are still deep puddles in places by the streets.

Saturday was beautiful and warm and yesterday was really beautiful and quite cool all day. We went to the Botanical Garden Saturday and I biked 11 miles yesterday. It was really cool weather and clear . Lake Ontario had lots of sailing going on.

Today will be beautiful for DGS to sail at camp but tomorrow is supposed to rain again then beautiful on Wed. We head back to VA Thursday .

The weather has greatly improved back in VA in the Shenandoah valley where we live. Except for no rain, it misses us alot because the mountains redirect it. But temps are WAY lower . I am sure my flowers are all an ugly mess from the heat and drought and the voracious deer.

Trailrunner — c

“Wildfires south of the border are responsible for “much” of the smoke that has prompted an air quality warning in one region of B.C., according to officials.

The provincial wildfire service said an increase in local, lightning-caused fire starts was only partially responsible for poor air quality in parts of the southeast fire centre—including where parts of the Kootenays border the United States.

“As wildfire activity increases, so has smoke across many areas of the region. Much of this smoke is originating from fires south of the Canada-U.S. border and will have varying impacts over the coming days,” an update Saturday evening said.

An air quality warning is in effect for multiple regions in the province outside of the densely populated Lower Mainland, where there has been a surge in new fires over the weekend.

“Smoke is causing or expected to cause poor air quality and reduced visibility,” according to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s warning. “During a wildfire, smoke conditions can change quickly over short distances and can vary considerably hour-by-hour.”

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/us-wildfires-responsible-for-much-of-the-smoke-in-bc-region-officials/

We need a 40,000 foot solid border wall to keep the illegal immigrant smoke on the proper side of the US/CA border.

🤠 And release Stanley back to us before it’s done, please.

That's up to the Oilers Rox.

Lonejack, or maybe the Flames.🔥🔥😳

Yeah LoneJack, .... but will Canada pay for it?

It will cost a loonie or a toonie(twonie??).

Yes, we’ll pay for the 12,000 metre wall, and then we’ll charge you for the shadow it casts by blocking out the sun and causing a lack of vitamin D in our citizens.

Add it to the bill for our share of the new cross border Gordie Howe bridge.

We’ll charge you in feloonies, the new USA gold dollar.

Canadian friends, what is NOTL?

Niagara-on-the-Lake

I am sorry it is a lot to spell out lol. DDIL’s parents have been here for quite a few years. Her Mom is Canadian , her Dad is Swiss but they had lived many years in Oberursel Germany when he retired they moved here because of friends in the area and family who summered in Canada just North of Vermont. They love it here and have many friends. It works out well for our DGS to now be such a good sailor and enjoying it so much. c

"Canadian friends, what is NOTL? "

Don't feel badly - I actually live in Ontario and grew up less than 2 hours from Niagara on the Lake, but I still had to look it up myself.

LOL, thanks you guys!! It sounds like a beautiful place!!!

ETA I just looked it up and it looks like a wonderful place to visit and you would be very lucky to call it home. Just beautiful!!