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Thread: Smoke smoke everywhere

  1. #131

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    San Joaquin Valley, California
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    I smoked an OPA Bloodline Maduro wrapped torpedo today.
    On the patio, with my Bride's terrier-ist, watching the hummingbirds and the bees competing for the nectar in hummingbird feeder.
    It couldn't be any worse, possibly even better, than breathing the air here.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #132
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Dec 2011
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Good for you John!
    Tin Can

  3. #133

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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Just wait until vast Dustbowl-like storms begin anew in the middle part of the country. No place to hide. But bugs? - mosquitos and biting flies are now the no.1 cause of certain moose herds in the lower 48 and adjacent Canada having trouble maintaining their population, which in turn is a symptom of climate-change-related longer summers and warmer winters. And caribou herds in the arctic have their movements dictated by where the bugs are and aren't, because flies and mosquitos weaken many of them too. This might well be the first year in the past 40 that I don't get in a summer backpack trip due to delaying it until mosquito season was over, and now having to factor fire hazard instead. Both make you run.
    Unlikely Drew.

    No till and low till farming practices, crop rotation, different fertilizing regimens and shelter belts make a big difference.
    Air seeders make a big difference with minimal ground disturbance and newer drill seeders that put seeds directly into the ground without harrowing or plowing are used in many places. Cover crops for flelds left fallow make a big difference. Harvesting while leaving stubble for wildlife has the added benefit of not breaking up topsoil so wind won't hit it so hard with erosion as in decades past.

    CRP(Crop Reserve Program) helps with land that is not actively farmed. Provides protection as well as habitat for wildlife and "moisture sinks" to help trap water so it goes into the ground rather than evaporating.

    Different States have different practices and laws. Where I live farm Corporations have to be closely held Family Corporation - with them living there. No Monsanto/Bandini types allowed to own the farms and ranches. Family farms are the norm. Modern machinery means one worker can plant what took10 to do years ago. Yes, bigger tractors and such but much more efficient, including crop yields only dreamed of decades ago. Much quicker ripening crops help a lot in the Northern States and Canada both.

    A Dust Bowl could happen but is very unlikely, given how farming is practiced in much of the Central USA now. Still, prairie fires are a threat as is disease, crop predation, drought and too much rain at the wrong time. Even with Climate Change in the mix things are better in many ways. We have 5 more growing days now than 50 years ago each summer. That, coupled with new quick ripening varieties mean Corn is grown here when a few decades ago it would not ripen fast enough to harvest before Winter frost hit.


    A complete drought with no crops grown will hit hard but without deep plowing to break up the topsoil we won't see it nearly as bad as the Dirty Thirties. We still have people who lived through it. We have the records and evidence. No one wants it back and it is highly unlikely it will return.
    ” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.

  4. #134
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Dec 2011
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    According to my local TV, we have no clouds

    and no blue sky

    Cali Smoke is here
    Tin Can

  5. #135
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    My two friends got separated trying to negotiate a high off-trail pass. One somehow made it out two days ago, the other just this afternoon. It was a close call for both. The wind has shifted east and extreme smoke conditions are anticipated over the crest of the range with the next few hours. We're expected to get a partial reprieve most of next week, but after that, the smoke here might be worse than ever. The good news is that an early season rainstorm is forecast for OR and WA.

  6. #136

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    Mar 2002
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    now in Tucson, AZ
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Re Tin Can's recent comment, smoke from the 1988 Yellowstone fires made it as far east as western NY state. so probably even farther.
    Here in Tucson it's a thin high overcast with an orange sun. The recent Bighorn fire here was tiny by comparison to what you all are going through- stay safe everyone!

  7. #137
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Jan 2007
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    Humboldt County, CA
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    So far, not the worse. They have slowed the fire approaching Humboldt County from the southeast, but still a major threat to many homes and communities. A fire due south of the county that closed the highway for a couple days is being controlled with evactuations orders lifted. Some headway made on fires in the north part of the county. Recent cool temps have helped (but has kept the smoke local, too). Possible rain on TH and Friday...probably not much, but anything will help and I have not heard that lightning is associated with the storm.

    Clearer skies forecasted by Tuesday.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  8. #138

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    Feb 2013
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Glad to hear your friends are safe,Drew.

  9. #139

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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Quote Originally Posted by MrFujicaman View Post
    Glad to hear your friends are safe,Drew.
    Yup!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  10. #140
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    SF Bay area, CA
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    Re: Smoke smoke everywhere

    Thanks. After they've rested up a week or so, I'll get back in touch with them for details of the ordeal. Some big fires are now under control, the aforementioned Creek Fire barely is, but is starting to encounter terrain which already burned before in relatively recent years, so won't burn as fiercely this time around. But a new fire complex has started southwest of Sequoia, and the arson-related Big Sur fire is still spreading and generating a lot of smoke. They're predicting a few days of lesser smoke here, so I'll try to get my legs worked on some nearby hill, and get in a little b&w printing while I can use the air exchanger without turning the whole darkroom into an ashtray. I hosed down everything adjacent yesterday, and even sponged ash residue off one of the outdoor cats. It's a strange feeling having cabin fever in summer instead or winter.

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