Relative Something

Could this cloud edge pass for a lightning bolt? I was thinking I should use the photo for a “Words on Images” creation, but my muse has totally vanished. I think my brain is in shock over being back in the day-job mode. I was taking pictures of the sun a few days ago because the smoke of Canadian forest fires polluting our air lately has created such amazing naked-eye views of the glowing star.

Yesterday, when I walked out of work, not only was the atmosphere near the ground thick with a smoky haze, but the smell of wood smoke was very noticeable. I expected it must be coming from some incident nearby, until I drove for a while and noticed it was like this all over.

From Plymouth, MN in the west, all the way to our house in Wisconsin, the smoke was visible and the aroma recognizable. My favorite weather blog, Updraft, says the smoke we are smelling used to be trees in Canada a few days ago. I’ve copied an image they used from NASA showing how the smoke plume was pushing into Minnesota on June 29th.

It makes the world seem a bit smaller to me to have such a visceral manifestation of something that originated so far away.

By the way, it is a common perception that Canada is north of Minnesota, but have I pointed out that we are currently living north of Minnesota? We are located almost due north of Red Wing, MN. The southeast portion of Minnesota juts out like a foot, because the state border follows the Mississippi River.

Of course, if you travel due north from our place, you eventually get to Minnesota, again. So, I guess it would be fair to say that we also live south of Minnesota, too.

Thank you for playing ‘Fun Geography Facts’ with me today! Now it’s time for me to go to work. I can be happy today that I work indoors where the air quality is buffered from the harsh effects of the smoky haze outside.

Be safe out there!

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