The smoke has arrived in the lower mainland, and two years later, here we are again…plunged into a surreal moonscape of acrid tang and stinging throats.

I took the boys up to Burnaby Mountain to see what we could see, and it wasn’t much.  The satellite images of Western Canada show a gossamer blanket of white-spun cloud that belies the seriousness of the situation.  I can only imagine being on standby to flee and then forced from my home for weeks at a time.   I can’t conceive of the stress of not knowing if everything has literally just gone up in smoke…

Here’s to the first responders; the firefighters, the emergency personnel, paramedics and the volunteers helping out in the evacuation centres.

Knowing the depth of the alternative, I think I can deal with a little smoke in my eyes.