Good morning everyone on this smokey Friday! That weird orange/yellow glow fills the landscape again this morning as smoke from all the fires across the region covers the sky. Some of the smaller fires have been put out now so there are presently 39 forest fires burning. The largest fires are 15,000 acres, 17,200 acres, and 38,000 acres. They are not fighting those 3 fires however since they are in remote areas that do not threaten people or property. They are concentrating efforts on fires that are closer to communities, or could possibly pose problems for communities or property.

There have been 448 wildfires to date in our province, the 10 year average is 286, so we are well above normal. But things could be much worse. Like a small town of 1,000 residents out in western Canada that was 90% destroyed by fire in one night. People barely had time to evacuate, they couldn’t even return home to pick up belongings or pets. Fires can start and move fast when it’s dry like this. The same thing could happen to our town. I pray it doesn’t.

Speaking of squirrels, I’m sure you have noticed our new series that started this morning called “squirrel quotes”. The squirrels figure they can do as good as the chipmunks. We’ll see what happens. It won’t be every day though, just now and then like the “chipmunk quotes” and “Steve’s old country sayings” (which might sound odd sometimes, but most will have a hidden message in them, some will just be…odd, for fun). Speaking of squirrels. There is a new top squirrel now. A new squirrel showed up a few days ago, I call him “Slim”, because he has the thinnest tail I have seen on a squirrel. He is just mean, totally. He reminds me of a squirrel I had 3 years ago, LB, same kind of squirrel.

Anyway, Jasmine and Slim met this morning and Slim decided he didn’t like being pushed around. Wow, what a fight between those two! Finally Jasmine took refuge inside a box where she could hold off Slim at the door. That really drove Slim crazy. But eventually Jasmine ran off. Then she came back, more fighting and she ran off again, being chased a long distance this time. But she came back, same thing happened. So she stayed away. Until just now. Another very big fight but she lost again and Slim chased her away across a street, but not our main street.

Slim finally came back. I might have to get involved and try to chase Slim myself. He really attacked Skamper this morning too. I went out to intervene in that one. No hurting my chipmunks. It has been a lively morning though. And all the squirrel chasing has given the chipmunks lots of opportunity to get peanuts, which is a good thing. All in all, it’s quite a start to the day! The sun is shining, it’s calm, the birds are singing, it’s a beautiful day. A new mystery story begins today! Have a fantastical Friday everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.