Wildfire Smoke

 We're into some of the best riding days of the season - long days with normally warm weather. Unfortunately, this week has been unseasonably cool and the air is very, very smokey. 

 The wildfires in Quebec have been sending smoke down the Hudson Valley and into western Connecticut to the point that just being outdoors, everything smells like a barbecue, or someone is burning railroad ties or sooty campfire wood. 

 

The smoke was particularly bad this past Tuesday and yesterday afternoon, but it remains a problem today. I'd like to get some ride time in, but it's unusually rotten outside in terms of smell and burning nose/eyes. One can walk around outside and maybe do light yard work, but anything more strenuous and the smoke really starts to take an effect. 

I'm  fairly tolerant of wood smoke, having grown up in a house partially heated by a wood-burning fire place, and tolerant of cool weather, but I will admit this weather has been tough for June. The last couple of days it has been in the 40s at night and 60s (at best) during the day, with lots of acrid smoke around. My wife, in particular, dislikes it. She grew up in Maryland, where this time of year it's supposed to be 90 and humid (and of course there isn't supposed to be all this smoke around). For her, the hotter the weather, the better.

The wind is supposed to shift in the next couple days, so I am hoping it will be over soon.