Back in the days before anyone had ever heard of climate change, Nat King Cole had a hit song that extolled “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.”
Well, our summer is indeed hazy and the number of fires burning in the Pacific Northwest’s forests and grasslands is certainly crazy, but it’s hard to be comfortably lazy if you are worried about gagging on smoke or wondering if you need to evacuate your campsite, cabin or even your home.
I just returned from an extended vacation, first in Paris, where the heat was exceeding records and the air was scented with smoke from fires not too distant, and then at Lake Chelan, where the smoke from encroaching wildfires got so thick that my family, friends and I opted for an early exit, much like George Clooney, who was forced to skedaddle from his fire-threatened home in France.
And now, as uncontrolled blazes continue to threaten homes in Spokane, shifting winds are sending a choking haze to Seattle from the east side of the state. As folks in New York City, Chicago and Paris have learned this summer, it does not matter if you are in an urban area far away from the nearest burning forest. Smoke travels beyond borders and city limits.
Yes, summer is all about school vacations and family trips to lakes and mountains and national parks. It’s a season of bikinis, beers and books at the beach. But, with a warming planet, summer is also, increasingly, a season of hazy yellow skies, burning throats, hacking coughs and, in the case of those under the direct threat of fire, a season of fear — fear that life might not ever be the same again.
See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s note: Seattle Times Opinion no longer appends comment threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many comments violated our community policies and reviewing the dozens that were flagged as inappropriate required too much of our limited staff time. You can comment via a Letter to the Editor. Please email us at letters@seattletimes.com and include your full name, address and telephone number for verification only. Letters are limited to 200 words.
