Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: The do and don’t lists of summer

Jun 17, 2019 | 4:17 AM

A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO the Kamloops skies were smoky from the wildfires in Alberta and everyone was thinking the same: it’s too soon. Aside from a few small fires around Kamloops, we are having it as good as can be with mornings crisp and fresh, and no smoke whatsoever, though the temperature keeps rising.

The hills are getting drier and the fire danger higher with each day of heat and no rain — which we want, but without lightning. For example, the fire danger in Peterson Creek Park is now rated as high, which means vigilance is implied. The occasional cigarette butt, whether from park visitors or from the highway traffic, is a worrying sight.

A friend who walks the new path daily has commented on the sidelining rye grass. Beautiful to look at but a real fire hazard. Again, cigarette butts are often flicked along the path instead of garbage bins. Please don’t.

(My friend also remarked on the rye grasses creating blind corners, a heart-fluttering reality when bikes and people using the path together at any given time, but that’s for another column.)

In the last few days, the highway between the Peterson Creek bridge and Valleyview saw a couple of small fires. They were extinguished in due time with no aftermath other than the worry that it could happen again.

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By the end of June last year, there had been 560 wildfires in British Columbia. To say it was a bad year would be an understatement. We are having it good at the moment and it is worth doing everything we can to keep it this way — for the part that we can anyway. This goes hand in hand with water conservation; let’s not waste it. The snowpack was lower than normal, which means we are facing the risk of drought as summer advances.

Another one on the don’t list is the redundant and scary reality of young children and dogs left in hot cars. It’s this simple: once it gets hot, don’t. No matter how tempting the thought because you know, some store chores “should only take a few moments.” Just don’t.

And speaking of cars, let’s all agree that hot air and car exhaust is a combination that none of us needs during the hot summer months. Please don’t idle. Ground-level ozone pollution is part of the dreaded urban smog, and it is a serious threat to people’s health, especially for those with cardiovascular and respiratory problems, the elderly and people with compromised (or immature) immune systems. The more hydrocarbons and nitrate oxides from car exhaust we pour into our common breathing air, the worse it is for everyone. Let’s not even think of the particulate matter brought upon by wildfire smoke.

One last item on the list, which is in fact an invitation to make use of the wonderful long days of hot summer weather: dry your laundry on the line or on a clothes rack. On a sizzling hot day, it takes less than an hour for clothes to dry, which is less than the usual dryer time. Plus, it’s free! With all the air conditioning that many of the Kamloops households use this time of the year, it makes sense to not burden the network if we don’t have too. Also, the smell of fresh line-dried laundry is just too good to pass up.

So what about the do list? It’s a long one, which I am sure everyone can add to because summer fun is never a single-lane street. Do spend time outside whenever possible (early mornings and evenings are beautiful on the hiking trails); do go for night walks when the stars and crickets make a show like no other; do gather with family and friends and celebrate togetherness because it is the most precious thing we have as humans; do visit the farmer’s market which is as magical as can be with the usual produce and art bounty, smiling vendors and friends you bump into, the delicious treats and beverages and happy buskers peppered all over; do spend precious sunny times on one of the many river and lake beaches in and around Kamloops.

It’s hard to stop because there is so much that we are blessed with where we live. Hence the don’t list – it’s hard not to renew the call to protect what we have, nature and people. So I do, and I hope you will join me in caring, because that makes every day to come even more of a gift than it already is.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.