On one of our first trips to Vancouver Island, Jan and I were staying in a cabin in Tofino. It was rainy and cold outside, and Jan couldn’t wait to get a fire going in the fireplace. He’s gleeful about his fires. I let him have at it while I curled up with my Kindle app.
At first, the fire added a warm glow to the cabin, but then slowly it started to fill up the room with hazy smoke. I think the flue wasn’t open, though I didn’t stop to ask questions. Jan dove in with a poker and fixed the problem, but it took a long time to clear the air. Everything we owned smelled like ashes.
I share that story because the sky today looks a lot like the inside of that cabin. About three miles away from where we’re staying is the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, aka the Center of the Universe, on Observatory Hill. Thick, oppressive air completely blocks it out.
The unfortunate reason for this un-breathable morass is an inversion that has kept the smoke from the ravaging forest fires on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and in the United States in a holding pattern over the valley. According to the Victoria/Saanich Air Quality Health Index, things are pegged at 10+ — the equivalent of smoking 8 cigarettes today.
It’s been nasty. We’ve stayed indoors, avoided long bike rides, and generally been bums. I’ve tried screwing my eyes together to pierce the veil of smoke, but I can’t make the sky blue or the whiff of campfires go away.
I keep reminding myself that every puff is someone’s weekend walk, livelihood, or home disappearing. That as bad as this is, it’s worse for someone else. It doesn’t stop my hacking.
