Smoke Is Bad (Blackfoot, Star, Worley: houses, buy, pharmacists)

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

As as avid photographer I had hopes of heading up north of Ketchum for some color change photography. But it's not looking real optimistic as shooting in smoke ain't real nice. The greatest portion of the change is expected by the 2nd week in September, and I doubt the smoke fest out of Cali will be done by then. Bummer. I've run into the same mess over the years trying to shoot at Glacier Natl. Park. Smoke simply doesn't work where photography is concerned. Oh well......another lost year perhaps.

The smoke might add some interesting color and texture to color photos. I'm not a photographer, but a brick red sky with a purple sun is visually interesting, even though it's a damned unpleasant experience.

Don't give up hope. September might still be an excellent time for some excellent photos. With our autumn months growing warmer and lasting longer before first snowfall, October could be a good month for photos too.

I do yearn for some clear skies though. Early fall, after the harvest is done and all the dust settles out of the air is the finest time of the year to go up on a mountain to see the Milky Way in all its glory on a night with no moonlight. Stanley was always a wonderful place for that experience.

[dcisive]

I'm well aware that Stanley is indeed a very special place to observe so much of the night sky as there is no light pollution up there. It is a known destination for many a serious astro photographer. But I don't have any place in particular to stay and those nights are long. I'm no camper either. LOL

[banjomike]

Whoo...
I planned to drive to Portland to spend the weekend holiday with my sons who both live there, but I'm still recuperating from the COPD I got from last year's fire smoke, and the fires in Lake Tahoe hit me hard.
On Monday, I felt good enough to make plans to leave on Wednesday and make it an easy 2-day drive, but by late Tuesday afternoon, there was so much smoke in the air I was in trouble again.

The worst of it is when the smoke is bad, it puts me into a state of perpetual weariness where I have little stamina and I can become easily distracted. Not a good condition to be driving on an Interstate alone, for sure. And not a good condition to be in after I arrived.

I go downhill crazy fast now. It only took 12 hours for me to go from feeling fine to feeling like I had been beaten on the ass with a dead rabbit.

My sons are disappointed, but there's still time left before winter sets in, and I have been slowly getting better. steadily Once there's less smoke in the air, I'm sure I can do the drive. A friend just said I can get a handful of N95 masks from her- she bought then economy-size. They'lll help.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Whoo...
I planned to drive to Portland to spend the weekend holiday with my sons who both live there, but I'm still recuperating from the COPD I got from last year's fire smoke, and the fires in Lake Tahoe hit me hard.
On Monday, I felt good enough to make plans to leave on Wednesday and make it an easy 2-day drive, but by late Tuesday afternoon, there was so much smoke in the air I was in trouble again.

The worst of it is when the smoke is bad, it puts me into a state of perpetual weariness where I have little stamina and I can become easily distracted. Not a good condition to be driving on an Interstate alone, for sure. And not a good condition to be in after I arrived.

I go downhill crazy fast now. It only took 12 hours for me to go from feeling fine to feeling like I had been beaten on the ass with a dead rabbit.

My sons are disappointed, but there's still time left before winter sets in, and I have been slowly getting better. steadily Once there's less smoke in the air, I'm sure I can do the drive. A friend just said I can get a handful of N95 masks from her- she bought then economy-size. They'lll help.

I know what you mean. I have to go to CA in a few weeks for a celebration of life, thankfully I will be going with my husband. Since we don't want to hang out in NV, we'll drive straight through.

[dcisive]

it's always possible we might have a light winter. Hopefully by November this smoke thing will die out and we can at least have real air once again. If it didn't snow at all till mid to end of December that would give you a opportunity to head further West without issue.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

it's always possible we might have a light winter. Hopefully by November this smoke thing will die out and we can at least have real air once again. If it didn't snow at all till mid to end of December that would give you a opportunity to head further West without issue.

That's true.
After a lifetime of driving winters here, the only problem I might have even in the dead of winter would be on the east side of the Cascades. Once I'm over on the other side, the coast usually never gets cold enough to really be worried about bucking snowdrifts in a blizzard.

It's all a problem, no matter how it's viewed. Without a wet, cold, snowy winter all over the west this winter, next year will be just as dry and bad as this one is someplace. If California doesn't burn again next summer, S. Oregon or Utah or N. Nevada could. They all could send smoke this direction.

The weirdest weather so far this year was just last month. August never gets as much rainfall as we got this year. It was over 300% of average. Following on the heels of a record-breaking heat wave. Idaho never gets 2 weeks of 100º temps, either.

Most of all, for me, it was my own physical condition. I was very ill for a long time, and I'm still recovering. It's been slower than I ever thought it would be. I really need more time before I try another long cruise alone.

That's really strange for me, as all my life I could just take off and go anytime I felt the urge. It didn't matter if I made it a long distance ramble or. short one. I've always been able to eat up the miles for hour after hour, as happy as could be just watching the scenery go by.

Not now. It must be old age creeping up on me, I guess.

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by banjomike

That's true. Not now. It must be old age creeping up on me, I guess.

Funny how that happens! My work days get shorter and recovery days get longer.


BTW do you have any air conditioning BJM?

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

Funny how that happens! My work days get shorter and recovery days get longer.


BTW do you have any air conditioning BJM?

Nope.
I haven't needed it in this house enough to spend the money. during the heat wave, the only room that grew overly hot was my bedroom. That was due to the garage below it, much to my surprise. Once the garage grows hot, all the heat goes upstairs into my bedroom.

I have have a split level with good cross ventilation. If I open and close the windows at the right times of day, all the other rooms will stay bearable cool. My bedroom has a ceiling fan, so it cools the room pretty well after the sun goes down.

One of the nice things about Idaho summers is our cool nights. There have been very few hot humid nights here that I can remember. Another thing is homebuilders here insulate for cold winters. That extra insulation helps keep a house cooler in the summer.

[dcisive]

I hear ya Mike regarding health. I'm finishing up my 14 day quarantine for the COVID Delta. I had the regular COVID back in March then followed up with my shots thankfully. This time around it's not doing much to me at all. My doctor who did the diagnosis said he'd just lost a 35 year old patient the day prior and was glad I had been vaccinated. I'm not sure if I'll take a jaunt to photograph at this point or not. If the smoke clears in the next 30 days I might. I love when it snows big time in the mountains and spares the valleys. But I guess you can't pick and choose. We do need the water, so I'd hope for a huge snow year in the Sawtooth's to feed that Snake River and valley. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by dcisive

I hear ya Mike regarding health. I'm finishing up my 14 day quarantine for the COVID Delta. I had the regular COVID back in March then followed up with my shots thankfully. This time around it's not doing much to me at all. My doctor who did the diagnosis said he'd just lost a 35 year old patient the day prior and was glad I had been vaccinated. I'm not sure if I'll take a jaunt to photograph at this point or not. If the smoke clears in the next 30 days I might. I love when it snows big time in the mountains and spares the valleys. But I guess you can't pick and choose. We do need the water, so I'd hope for a huge snow year in the Sawtooth's to feed that Snake River and valley. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

If it came to druthers, I would rather have the smoke than the fire!
I've been in both before, and believe me, the first is better than the second.

I hope the entire west gets a big winter. 2 or 3 of them in a row would be even better.

I don't think I've lost my resilience yet. I'me just losing my ability to recover quickly. Sorry to hear you caught the Delta; I went in last Monday to see if I could get a booster to the clinic I used for the shots, but I'm not in bad enough shape to qualify.
Only those who are immuno-compromised or in other similar condition are getting them now. I was assured I'm still well protected for another 30 days, and that's when the booster will become widely available.

Idaho's in a bad way right now. I hope someone reads this and thinks seriously about getting protected from this disease. After my cousin's husband died of it last year at 59, it scared me enough to be ready for the shots as soon as the vaccines got here.