(Don't) Light my fire

There was a meeting last night in Livermore, given by (I think) the Air Quality Board, regarding wood fires and pollution. There's a move afoot to ban personal wood fires in homes if the air quality is sucky (wording here is mine, not the Board's). While some people, including yours truly, would jump for joy at such a ban (and actually be able to, since the air would be clear enough to breathe), others feel it infringes upon their personal liberty and privacy. Uh, yeah. And the inability to drive a car in California without a catalytic converter is an infringement too. Suck it up wood burners, you're a worse cause of pollution than a '68 Ford.

Speaking of bad air quality, last night I ran with Pam and Olivia. Welcome back Liv! Missed ya! I didn't have high hopes for a good run since I had gotten notice of a "Spare the Air" night but figured that 3-ish miles wouldn't kill me. So we're running along, I'm blathering about something or other, and Pam asks me why I'm in such a hurry. Uh, I wasn't? I absolutely can't pace when I can't breathe well. I mean, since I'm wheezing anyway I figure it isn't because I'm going too fast, it's because the air is bad. So I slowed down (and still had trouble breathing but not as bad).

We got closer and closer to the end (and I'm still blathering about something), and we all sped up. I sped up more, they sped up. Any time either of them got a step in front of me, I ran faster. In a blur of speed (heh) we turned the corner, faster faster, then I finished right ahead of them. Good thing I hadn't told them I was racing since either of them could beat my socks off without trying. It wasn't our fastest short short run, but it was on the speedy side.

In a great burst of productivity I finished knitting the Temescal Bag last night. I'm not sure I like how I did the straps and I think the stripes looked better on paper, but I hope it'll look much better when felted. I still need to do all the finishing, weaving and tying off the (millions of) ends. I'd like to gift it on Friday but I don't think it'll be dry by then. We'll see.

The Gratuitous Bear of the Day is another twofer. These little tiny bears, just a couple of inches each, tend to fade into the background of the bigger bears. But Tiny Panda and Tiny Polar are still cute!