inching August

Our farm has had only 48 mm (2 inches) of rain since May, but a goodly amount of the wet stuff is predicted for this weekend. It couldn’t be more welcome. Summer is always a gut check for the island as our population swells due to campers and those with vacation homes. We inch along until we get Labour Day behind us yet again.

British Columbia averages 1600 wildfires a year, most of them in the eastern half of the province. Currrently Vancouver Island has four, the only one out of control about 150 km (80 miles) south of us. Quadra has the advantage of having a regional airport in nearby Campbell River, so we have spotters in the air every day.

Indeed, it was a small plane that first saw smoke from a lightning strike in our neighbourhood in 2020. That elicited a quick response, complete with helicopter buckets, that saved us a bunch of grief. Almost everyone in our community has a water pump and lots of hoses.