September 12th, 2005

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Vancouver
6 Comments »

Nuclear Winter in September

As the locals probably know, there’s a large fire in a bog just south of the city. It’s actually a peat bog, which (as the Irish will tell you) burns slow and long.

There’s been the smell of burning leaves in the air for the last 24 hours or so. This morning as I worked, my eyes started stinging and tearing up. I got up and looked outside, and saw the south side of the city swathed in white smoke. I took a photo. Here’s a sense of what that view looks like on a clear day. There are a couple more photos here.

On an unrelated note, they did something to the pipes in my building today. I went to take a shower, and the water that came out of it was filthy. All of a sudden I’m living in Warsaw, circa 1958.

Comments: 6 Responses so far

mel
September 12th, 2005
1:38 pm

I actually kinda like the smell… feels like I’m camping downtown :)

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sxKitten
September 12th, 2005
3:05 pm

I work downwind of the bog, just across the Fraser. The smoke’s blowing right into the loading bays of our warehouse, and we’re all suddenly craving marshmallows and hot dogs.

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Melanie
September 12th, 2005
5:20 pm

Circa 1958? I thought you were younger or is this a reference to something I know nothing about.Please take my comment as a compliment.

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Norlinda
September 12th, 2005
6:24 pm

I live right across the bog, and last night, the night sky was orange from the flames. Quite scary but thankfully we’re downwind.

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Darren
September 13th, 2005
12:25 am

Melanie: I just meant that I felt like I was living in some Eastern Bloc, polluted city today. I largely picked the city and year at random (more or less). In retrospect, Krakow might have been better.

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Richgold
September 13th, 2005
10:03 am

Try Yellowstone National Park circa 1989. That was a nice fire (man-made and Mother Nature made). Spent most of the summer working in that kind of fog. Surreal.

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