The unpredictable whims of nature have rescued us for the time being from the heavy haze and air pollution situation we've been immersed in the last little while as a result of out-of-control wildfires across Canada. Ironically, we're in a more fortunate situation than people living in the United States, where New York State and the New England States have been suffering dreadfully poor air quality thanks to these Canadian wildfires. Particulate matter and that grey-yellow haze has impacted the U.S. capital. 

Traditionally it became a convention for weather forecasters to attribute bad weather in the United States to conditions rising out of the atmosphere from their neighbours in the north. Of course it isn't always true, there are ample times when disruptive weather conditions enter Canada from their neighbours to the south, but habit dies hard, and in this instance it fits the bill.

Hard to believe that huge airborne plumes of particulate matter from the Canadian wildfires are actually heading toward Norway. Which gives us a fairly good idea of just how large an area is being impacted by the wildfires and the ferocity of the wildfires themselves. These destructive natural occurrences don't respect national boundaries, and it's one of the reasons why firefighters have been arriving to help Canadian fire crews battle the blazes, from other countries.

We woke this morning to sun, and soon afterward experienced rain. Both elements have been playing peek-a-boo with us all day. The rain has washed away the seasonal pollen that gathered over everything, along with the particulate matter from the fires, and the sun is doing its best to compensate for the cold temperatures that have settled over our area.

When we set out for our afternoon ravine hike with Jackie and Jillie it was heavily overcast, had just recently rained, and it was a gamble whether we'd be caught in a downpour. Irving sensibly wore a light rainjacket, and I recklessly did not. I missed the jacket only because the atmosphere was so cool and the sun had disappeared. Other than I was lucky; no rain fell while we were out.

We had some little surprises; fleabane was already beginning to bloom, so were daisies and Irving pointed out to me the initial growth stages of the fruit of the many hazelnut shrubs that populate the forest understory. Jackie and Jillie were frisky as usual, with Jillie barking in the triumph of issuing invitations to their friends, also out on the forest trails, but out of sight until they heard those barks and came gallumphing along for a cookie party.

Later, in the garden, I could see that the sugar-laced baking soda I had scattered to disrupt the activity of an ant colony that was destroying the plants nearby hadn't worked. Of course the rain had also washed it away, but this was the second application. I'm guessing the colony is much too large for that remedy to their presence to have had any impact. But the plants I had moved yesterday into their territory are already withering, so I'm assuming the ants dispose of what they don't like near their nests by nipping the roots.