19:56 - 08/28/2015
Summer Daze
A pall of wood smoke has hung over the city for nearly a week. It is courtesy of the forest fires raging in the NW US and in our sister province of British Columbia. The prevailing winds/jet stream are pushing the smoke our way. I feel sorry for any sentient being living closer to the fires; it is hard enough to breathe here - can't imagine closer to. To think that I was complaining about the week of a heat wave we had prior to that. Fortunately we didn't have to deal with both at the same time. Still it feels a bit odd to see the children's play park kitty corner to my home - one of the things I love most about living here, children's laughter all the time - deserted for all intents and purposes. Granted school has started up again, but a lot of people are keeping their small ones indoors per health warnings from the authorities.
The nice neighbours just keep expanding. Yay! One lady spent a couple of months organising a block party. I didn't go because I'm not very social anymore (burned out), but I did watch the proceedings in the park from my front window. A lot of people attended. The neighbour who had the seizure told me his friend gave him what was supposed to be a painkiller (he's waiting for shoulder surgery). It turned out to be a street drug that is causing a lot of deaths in this city. Lucky he survived I guess.
My grandson got a summer job that has settled him down a bit. He likes the freedom that comes with having one's own money. Haven't had that freedom since I got married, but I wasn't thinking of that at the time. My oldest son's step-daughter asked to move back in with me at the end of May. That lasted two months as she was getting more and more scary. She insisted in smoking drugs and I found out later, she had a taser that I think she was using on my cats. They were terrified of her. They are just now starting to feel safe. What really threw me was when she wandered upstairs at 3 in the morning insisting voices from under the stairs were talking to her and she wanted me to call the police to examine the place. She also demanded that I spend a lot of money I didn't have to add more security features to my home. I didn't feel unsafe until then. Anyway, after that incident, I texted my son and suggested that she find somewhere else to live. Maybe a secure treatment facility. Sigh. On the plus side, number three son just bought and moved into their first house. I am so proud of him and his wife.
A+ and I have been out walking during this lovely summer. Something that was also objectionable to my boarder. She thought I shouldn't leave the house ever. Anyway we have been to an evening of fireworks, checked out a new park and gone over some old, familiar ground for me - being near to my childhood haunts - but new to A+. A+ just called so I'll sign off now. Good night Dear Diary.
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