alfreda89: 3 foot concrete Medieval style gargoyle with author's hand resting on its head. (Chai)
alfreda89 ([personal profile] alfreda89) wrote2005-05-21 12:23 am

The Yucatan is burning...

...and it's reached central Texas. The smell is overwhelming. Fires have been burning in southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and northern Central America for over a month, but only in the last two weeks has it become obvious.

Last year a friend's bird became so ill they feared for its life. This was in CA--and finally, the bird did die, its lungs weakened from all the smoke.

So now the nausea begins, the headaches, the burning eyes. This year I'm noticing itching skin as well.

It's a small world, and becoming smaller.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 07:35 am (UTC)(link)
We were living in Mexico in the spring of 1998 the last time these huge fires were raging in Central America and the smoke/pollution reached as far as Texas. During the day, if you stood at one end of a block (on a street), the other end of the block was hazy, because of smoke. It was awful.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
It happens every year, but it isn't always so noticeable. This smells as if the town is on fire.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
But what's also scary is how hard it is for me to find information on the fires, even on the internet.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 01:01 pm (UTC)(link)
About the only place you find anything are atmospheric web sites, where maps show the burn patterns--or ground temp photos show bands of heat.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
It's so strange. These things are all interconnected, and immeasureably important, but iun this country we have to read about Michael Jackson's trial.

Feh.

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2005-05-22 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
It's so strange. These things are all interconnected, and immeasureably important, but iun this country we have to read about Michael Jackson's trial.

Indeed. And I try to avoid most of the Jackson stuff. I've come to the conclusion that A) On the basis of info I've seen, the people are con artists, and he should be acquitted, and B) he may or may not be a child molester...but he's a sadly confused man.

[identity profile] jacardie.livejournal.com 2005-05-21 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
How awful! I wonder how far north it'll come....

[identity profile] alfreda89.livejournal.com 2005-05-22 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Ask the south wind...