Smoke and Roses

It's another grim
day with smoke and very poor
air quality here

~ carliewired

It was 6:30 when I was heading across town for Riverside Park. The temperature was 21 C with grey, smoky skies all over our valleys. I was hoping to find some colour as the photos will be so depressing otherwise. 

I parked near the tennis courts and walked to the pier. It was very quiet. I found someone alseep at the end of the pier. I can't imagine sleeping outside these days with the horrible air quality. I took a hasty photo of my mountains and the Thompson River as evidence of our bad atmosphere. As a walked back towards the rose garden there was someone curled up on the stage of the band shell. 

I took a short walk around the Princess Diana rose garden. A squirrel came out on the top of the pergola to watch me watching him. He paused just long enough for me to get this shot. Another showed up and they scampered around the garden, over the pergola and picnic tables, then off into the tennis courts. 

There are some beautiful specimens in the rose garden, all well tended by city staff. As I walked around the edge of the rose garden, someone emerged from the landscaping and propped himself up under the pergola. I took that as my sign that I should leave. 

I picked up my morning coffee at the drive-thru and made for home. I noticed that the helicopter crews were idling in the parking lot of the hotel they're booked into. Trucks were not leaving and it was already past 7. The smoke has been so bad that it has kept them down for a couple of days now. That cannot be good for the fire fighting efforts in our area. 

It will be another inside day for me. My eyes are already stinging this morning. We can expect a high of 31 C with smoke.