It's a polluted hell of a day in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a normal day. What wouldn't be normal is if there wasn't smoke from burning wood or yard waste.
3:00 PM: Faint leaf smoke. Someone in the distance is burning leaves. I did not check before this. 50 degrees at this time, cloudy, no rain.
3:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.
4:00 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.
4:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.
5:45 PM: I found two leaf burners within a half block of each other as I was driving south on Helen heading back into town. From Lydia & Helen all the way into town I could smell burning leaves. Leaf smoke is all over. Both of the burners I saw were actively burning leaves at this time. Both live within a block of city council member Jan Walczak. Do you think she cares if her neighbors are illegally burning yard waste? No, she doesn't. That demonstrates how good of a city council member she is.
Leaf burner 1: The house on the northwest corner of Helen & Navajo was burning leaves in the backyard. It isn't really a backyard, it is more of a gully. The burning was taking place in the backyard and was not easy to see from the road. I have reported in the past that someone at this area burns grass regularly, usually on Tuesdays after 4 PM. It could possibly be this house. I know there is another grass burner three or four houses north on the opposite side of the street who likes to burn grass in the morning hours during the week. It looks like this leaf burner blew all of his leaves from his front yard out into the street as there is a pile next to the curb. This is also illegal. You can't blow your leaves into the street because it clogs drainage sewers.
Leaf burner 2: A house on Longview. I turned the corner at Navajo and immediately spotted a large cloud of smoke rising from this guy's backyard. It was leaf smoke. I went around the block to verify the home address. This guy burns wood four to five times a week all spring and summer long. He disposes of yard waste regularly, too, and has been doing so for years. Last summer I smelled grass smoke after midnight. I tracked the odor right to that house. Can you imagine living next door to this guy? There is something not right about someone who burns yard waste late at night. Or someone who has to burn wood five times a week. If the wind is right, we catch this guy's wood smoke, yard waste smoke, and other stuff he burns. You can smell his burning a quarter-mile away and likely further than that.
5:45 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.
6:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues. 50 degrees and cloudy at this time.
Soon the wood smoke will start. We've had 3.5 hours of leaf smoke already. Then we get to look forward to wood smoke all night long.
Does this city sound like a good place to live to you?
7:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside. Being outside for a few minutes will leave your clothes smelling like wood smoke like you spent hours in a smoky bar.
8:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. I can slightly taste the smoke in the air. North St. Paul, the home of flavorful air.
9:00 PM: Light wood smoke. The wood smoke decreased in intensity.
10:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
11:00 PM: No real wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air. It is probably wood smoke, but I can't say it is.
Midnight: No wood smoke. Fresh air!
