The City in Smoke

A little bit of 
rain and a whole lot of smoke -
so begins my day! 

~carliewired 

I was up drinking my coffee before 5 and had my bins out to the street for collection by 5:30. I decided I would delay my exit this morning so I could combine the trip with a stop at the art store. I went back to bed to gain a couple of hours sleep. 

At 7:30 I was in the car and about to head for Riverside Park downtown. I popped up the garage door to discover that my annoying neighbour had left one of his bins in my direct line of travel. I took a shot of the offence when I was out on the street. I chose not to do something drastic but I have promised myself that, should this happen again, that bin will be moved somewhere very inconvenient and definitely out of my way. There will be no discussion!

I parked near the tennis courts in the park to walk up the ramp to the bridge. My first surprise was finding two overactive squirrels chasing each other all around the Uji Garden. The best I could do was catch one launching off a tree trunk while in mad pursuit of the other. It's just a blur. 

My second surprise was finding a large brownish rock that had been placed on the top of one of the Celtic Stones as if to mimic a marmot poised there. Someone has a sense of humour. 

My third surprise was finding a tree by the riverbank chewed entirely around its trunk. No wire had been added to the trunk to protect it so I must assume the city has decided to leave this one to the beavers. They will have it soon. 

A look back to the park from the ramp gave me a view of sagebrush in bloom and the hazy mountains over the river. Every view is greyed with the smoke. The landscape appears in layers. I looked across to the far shore to see a heron looking hunched and disgruntled. It was being approached by a Canada goose marching forward. I was imagining their conversation. 

The last part of my jaunt was through the rose garden which is looking rather lovely in spite of the weather we've been having this summer. I had a brief chat with the workers who take such good care of this colourful garden. I thanked them for their dedication. 

I was off to pick up some breakfast which I finished in the art store's parking lot while waiting for the "open" sign to light up. My shopping was successful and I was home again by 10 AM.

I'm in for the day. There's some housework and a quilt to work on today. 

The forecast suggests we'll have a high of 22 C with cloudy day and a chance of showers or thundershowers in the afternoon. Widespread smoke will continue.