Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
Greetings from The Big Smoke Portland, OR Where we have been blanketed by unprecedented smoke from wildfires for about a week now. But good news! We don’t have the worst air pollution of any city in the world today — as of this morning, we were only number six!
It rained last night! And it is still raining! It’s so wonderful — and good news for all the firefighters, too.
There have been many tragedies from the wildfires up and down the West Coast — loss of life and property. Truly, there has been way too much trauma and anxiety to go around. Fire is terrifying. And I look forward to a Biden administration that will begin the serious work we need to do to address climate change. At this point, it is a screaming emergency — there can be no doubt about it.
Some information from The Oregonian about the current state of the fires and the smoke: When will Oregon wildfire smoke clear? Friday fire details, maps, evacuation information
Personally, I am having a hard time with the smoke. Even though we’ve been running powerful air filters and humidifying the air in the house, after so many days of this, the smoke is really affecting my breathing and I feel pretty lousy. I hate using an inhaler but it has come to that. I know I am not alone . Accordingly, please treat this open thread as a place to share your experiences with the smoke and how you are dealing with it — kvetching as well as kibitzing is absolutely fine in this context. We are in this together, West Coasters! And soon the rest of the country will share some of our grief because the smoke is drifting.
The weekend begins now. Please come in, be comfortable, and share your day, your weekend plans, your menus!
Just in — the devastating news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. May she Rest In Peace.
I am gutted....