Our Little Dragon...

Chloe was in a mood tonight.  She was not happy with much of anything.  She DID eat quite a lot, but, even though she is tired, she continues to argue with sleep as I type.  Ahh, the life of parents...is it ALL waiting for the next poo or the next nap?

I subbed in a middle school today.  The eighth graders were a decent lot.  I was entertained by them a little.  Which is to say listening to their petty bickering is not boring.

I am glad the weekend is finally here.  Maybe it will warm up a little.  It dawned sunny enough, but the temperature remained COLD!  Even at three in the afternoon, sun shining bright off to the west a little, it was frigid enough to cut through my slacks and shirt.  I walked quickly to the truck, and drove home with the heat on high.

It was beautiful, but did I take my camera?  Nope.  And I should have.  It was the first time I have seen the smudge pots actually burning.  For those of you who don't know, smudge pots are an invention that farmers here use to ward off frosts that may damage buds.  Now, this is a little early in the year, but, we had some warm temps earlier this week, and it would not surprise me if the soft fruits were fooled into bursting forth into life a little early.  So, the farmers had the smudge pots lit and burning.  The air was not as clear as we are used to here in the west...it was more like...well, Beijing.  Yeah, the first day.  It looked like LA forty years ago...plus a little bit more.  It was a pall of black hanging on the horizon.  The sky went from light yellow at the top of the pass to a burnt umber at the bottom.  I could actually smell the smoke, it was thick and acrid, like coal smoke.

OK, it didn't look like this picture of the Great Wall, it was actually sunnier and clearer on the wall than it was that first day in Beijing. (I'm pretty sure Cora took this one, it's a good picture, and it came from her camera!)

So, there, you can sort of visualize the heavy overcast of blackened air that hung over the freeway that I drove over.

And, because I would certainly hear about it, here is the requisite picture of Chloe.