Morning Haze

Yesterday morning, I sat outside early to read the newspaper.  I was amazed at the haze in the sky, which colored the sun a deep orange.  As I read the newspaper, there was an article about the smoke from the wildfires in New Mexico making it to Texas, and negatively impacting the air quality. That explained the haze and the color of the sun.  I did not smell smoke, although there have been times in the past when smoke from wildfires several hundreds of miles away has brought in the aroma as well as the haze. 

Smoking

My neighbor has a wood fired cooker.  I suspect it is a smoker, and today he fired it up.  The smell of the mesquite smoke is so wonderful!  I like mesquite smoked meat. It has a really good flavor.

I have the windows open, and the smoke smell is coming into the house. I do not mind.  I just like the mesquite smoke smell.

Sake wanted out this afternoon.  She did not like the smoke smell, and came in quickly.

Community Services

As my parents aged, my father's health declined, and his diabetes and seizures were problematic at times. No matter how hard he and my mother tried, his diabetes was hard to control.

Consequently, there were multiple times when he had a problem, either with his diabetes or seizures, and the paramedics had to be called. I did not live near where my parents lived during this phase of their life. But from everything my mother said, the response of the emergency responders, was appropriate, timely, helpful, and sympathetic.

Tonight I had a scare: the fan for my air conditioner was making noises, and started to smell like smoke.  I called 911, and was directed to the fire department. They told me to evacuate the building, which was quite a trick as Sake was very resistant to being put in a crate.  I did not have a crate for Taki, but this tells me, if I have 3 cats, I need 3 crates.

The fire department took less than 5 minutes to reach my house.  There were 3 trucks that responded, but as it was obvious there was no fire, 2 left fairly quickly... The firemenn who stayed check the back yard, the fuse box, the heater/air conditioner unit. They  were very kind and said that they respond to these kinds of calls regularly. They told me to leave the air conditioner off, and call a repair service in the morning, to get the motor of the fan repaired. 

A couple of years ago, our director had a roof fire because of an air conditioner, that basically destroyed the roof and caused major damage to her home. That was some of what I thought about tonight when I called the fire department. 

Last summer, a friend of mine experienced having her air conditioner just be not functional. The replacement process took several days, which was torturous for her, as she had no relief in her home.  I am hoping that repairing/replacing the fan will not take too long, and we will have air conditioning really soon, as the heat in Lubbock right now, is unbearable.  If I can not get repairs soon, I will have to buy a window unit (there are plugs in the house for them, I hope they are workable) to survive. 

I am so grateful that I live in a society in which we have such safe guards and help.... I wish all of our residents, even the unschooled, mentally ill, and other wise unconnected with society had these safe guards. 

I am in hopes that those of you who read this do something for the homeless of your community who have no relief from temperature extremes..

Smoke Again

I wrote yesterday about smoke, and how I like some smoke odors, and smoked meat and cheese.

This morning, there is smoke odor in the air that I dislike. It is an acrid smoke, and reminds of the smoke produced by cotton seed hulls burning, a process that I believe is illegal but happens often.

The fires damaging so much of this nation are heading close:  Friday morning the Lubbuck Avalanche Journal documented that one house burned and another was charred before a fire was under control in the city.  Today, KCBD Channel 11 is carrying a story about a fire west of Lubbock in Cochran County, and a story about 3 homes that burned in Floydada, northeast of Lubbock.  Because of the high winds, these fires are dangerous, as are so many of the other fires in the country.

Smoke

I love smoked meats and cheeses.  These are just wonderful to savor. I have become spoiled because I love smoked meats, fish and vegetables  in comparison to grilled, fried, sautéd, or otherwise cooked meats.

There was a time in my life when I lived where we could smoke our own meats.  Now, I no longer have a smoker: I do have a gas grill, but that is not quite the same.

I like mesquite and hickory smoke the best, but some other smokes are good, depending upon the food:  apple and cherry wood are okay, apple especially for pork.

I also love the smell of pine smoke or pinion.  Pine smoke and water recalls many, many summers at the local state park where we picnicked, swam and even camped.

So, for me, smoke has many memorable connotations...