It's the end of another week. Time passes so quickly.
I had great news today. My nephew has successfully completed his Master's Degree in Psychology and will commence his PhD studies in a few short weeks. I am very proud of him. We have long had a "deal" that once he has completed much of his education we will travel together to France. He reminded me of it today.
In other news the wild fires which have been burning for weeks now continue to wreck havoc several hours to the north of me. The air quality in much of the province is very bad and has now affected my city for a few days. Have a look at the sky in the photo below.
This has been the picture for much of the past 3 days. Our province has not seen fires this bad for about 60 years or weather and we've been smashing temperature records all week. What we need is some good rainfall but there doesn't seem to be any in the forecast. The moon has turned orange. You can see it peeking out of the trees in the photo below (sorry the trees are in the way and I wasn't high enough to see over the trees). I read on line news today which said a controlled burn a few days ago is now an uncontrolled burn due to high winds (*sigh). It is threatening a power station that supplies electricity to Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Crews are working hard to make sure it isn't impacted but at this stage only God knows the outcomes.
As of 6:23 a.m. PT Friday, 10 communities had reached a seven out of 10 on the Air Quality Health Index:
(Source: CBC News, August 4, 2017)When the index shows a number of seven or higher, Environment Canada recommends that children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions "take it easy" and reduce outdoor activities.
- Central Fraser Valley.
- Central Okanagan.
- Eastern Fraser Valley.
- Kamloops.
- Metro Vancouver - NE.
- Metro Vancouver - NW.
- North Okanagan.
- South Okanagan.
- Squamish.
- Whistler.
The general population should do the same if they start to cough or feel an itch in their throat.
Yesterday when I was out running errands I had to make a dash for the bus and I ran as fast as I could for almost 1 block. I noticed later in the evening that my throat was very sore. I've also had an intermittent, irritating cough for a few days. I'm largely indoors but it is too hot to go without throwing open the doors and windows and running the fans so I guess I must be breathing in the small particulate matter which is in the air.
With the run of hot weather I haven't felt up to much though I am keeping very busy with the daily things of life. I've made a bit of progress with some household updates; mainly buying new accessories for the kitchen, dining and bathroom areas. This has also meant decluttering a bit in these areas and giving away things. All the giveaways take time because one must take photos, place the advert, respond to emails and phone calls and then hope the people show up to pick up what they requested. Sometimes there isn't much interest in what is posted. It is all a matter of timing.
With the really hot weather this week I haven't done much reading. Even so it won't be difficult to meet this year's reading goal as I'm several books ahead of schedule. Currently in my reading pile is The Legacy of Pemberley by Rebeccah Ann Collins. It is the 10th book and final book in the series. The funny thing is I didn't know that when I picked it up so I've had to try and decipher who everyone is. If are a Jane Austen fan I'm sure you will enjoy the book just as I'm enjoying it.
There Was a Country:A Memoir by the late Chinua Achebe is also in my current reading pile. It is about his personal account of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War of 1967-1970.
Besides these two books I've got several more on hold request at the library. I've also downloaded several free ebooks this week from both Amazon Kindle and Kobo (Canada's version of Kindle). I probably wouldn't spend money on these books but since I got them for free I will now be introduced to some "new to me" authors.
As you can see, I won't be without reading material any time soon. The nice thing too is that I'm already prepared with reading materials for any future travels. While I still prefer reading a paper book you can't beat the convenience of an ebook. I can carry an entire library of books in my mini Kobo. Such wonders. My grandfather and great-grandmother would have marvelled at the thought if they had lived long enough to know about it. I think my grandfather would have especially liked an ereader. Every time I saw him he would be reading.
My niece will visit me in a few short days and I'm looking forward to her visit. We always have fun and I do things with her that I wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy. While she is here we will celebrate her recent birthday and her brother and I have a few surprises planned.
In coming weeks and months, I'll be trying to solidify future travel plans with my nephew. He is a very busy guy so it will be difficult to pin him down over a mutually workable period of time to travel. I do hope we can work it out. I'll also be working on a few other fun plans. More about these in future.
I've been busy helping students and widows in Kenya. There is always great need there. Sadly the little toddler with the cancerous tumour on his eye passed on. We were unable to save him though the doctors tried hard. My friend Jonah worked tirelessly to get the City of Nairobi to provide land to bury the lad who died while being treated in hospital in that city. Ordinarily one would be buried on the family compound. However the sad fact is this young lad and his mother were turned out of their rural home due to the boy's tumour. The father thought his wife and the boy were cursed. As a result they had been living in a shelter for some time and the boy had been many hours away in hospital for much of the time.
Last but not least, Kenya will be having it's national elections on Tuesday, August 8th, 2017. It is a always a very tense time. If you are a person of prayer, please pray for peace and safety for the nation and it's people as well as fair election outcomes.
Take care until next time.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Friday Foto Friends.
