One of Jaimie and my favourite shows is Hudson and Rex. It only takes one bark on the television and he comes into the rec room to watch or listen. I swear that he wants to be a police dog when he grows up. He’s certainly got the amazing nose for it.
Yesterday, on our morning walk, I was wandering along listening to the birds and, of course, he was a little closer to the ground. Suddenly, he stopped and yanked me over to the road. Fortunately, there as no traffic.
What had caught his attention?
Someone who had just gone by had thrown a cigarette butt out of their window and it was sitting on the roadway smoldering. He stopped and looked at me. Seriously. It was something that was new to him and I’m guessing he was wondering what to do. So, I walked over and stomped it out with my foot.
Forest fires are in the news these days. The local news stations indicated that the hazy skies and great sunset moments are as a result of fires burning in Northern Ontario. I’ve never seen one up close, thankfully, but have a friend who worked there for a living and shared some of the awfulness that happens.
Now, we know that many of the fires are started by lightning strikes. There’s not a whole lot to do about that except deal with the consequences. There was a time thought when the concern came from humans and their neglect for dealing with burning things.
That got me thinking of public service announcements from a long time ago, featuring Smokey the Bear. Never failing, YouTube has a collection of these commercials to feed any need you might have for that nostalgia.
Now, here in Essex County, we don’t have the huge forests our friends in the North do. But, an errant cigarette butt could still cause some damage.
I wish I could have nailed the person that threw this out and forced him/her to sit through a bunch of these classics.
doug --- off the record 