Today is the first day of the state fair. Summer is ending, but our wood smoke hell is not. It is another smoky evening. This is normal in North St. Paul, MN. The air is smoky almost every evening if it is not too hot or is not raining. We have been tortured by our city council with smoky air for years. I wish they would move away and torture the residents of another city.
2:35 AM: Very faint wood smoke and smoke from whatever waste was being burned the prior evening continues. Put plainly, the air stinks! The windows must remain closed all night. It is very cool outside. The temperature at 10 PM yesterday evening was 64 degrees. It is probably down in the 50s by now. It is 75 degrees inside the house.
7:00 AM: The air is fresh.
6:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. It is 78 degrees, sunny, and beautiful except for the air pollution ruining an otherwise perfect evening! The recreational wood burning is starting earlier than usual. Thanks again, city council, for making us breathe smoky air. You suck. The only thing Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick are doing is taking a formerly nice city and turning it into hell on earth.
I was taking a shower and cleaning up when I opened the window to smell wood smoke. A lesson I have learned living in North St. Paul is that I must close the bathroom window when showering in the evening. Too often I have been showering and step out of the shower to find the bathroom reeking of wood smoke or smoke from burning grass or leaves. With the window open, the exhaust fan sucks in outside air and if the air is smoky, the bathroom is going to be smoky. Had I not closed the bathroom window before showering this evening, I would have stepped out into a smoky bathroom. I hate that! I also closed the bedroom window before showering, too. Had I not, that room may have been smoky, too.
This is how we live in this horrible city. We have been living like this for years. Do you want to live like this?
6:13 PM: Very faint wood smoke continues.
6:20 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. The intensity of the wood smoke is fluctuating.
6:40 PM: Very faint wood smoke. 79 degrees at this time measured at North High School.
7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. The windows remain closed. Faint wood smoke is strong enough to smell and I do not want to smell it in the house. Do you want to breathe smoky air sitting in your living room?
7:45 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. The air will probably be smoky all night long.
8:15 PM: Faint smoldering wood smoke continues.
9:10 PM: Faint smoldering wood smoke continues. Still cannot open the windows. It is 71 degrees outside and 77 degrees inside and we cannot open the windows because the air reeks of wood smoke! North St. Paul sucks!
We get to look forward to smoke from burning leaves in a few weeks. Do you want to live in a city like this?
9:40 PM: The air is mostly clear. Either the wood has burned itself out or the breeze shifted directions. I am praying that this is the end of the wood smoke for tonight. I want to cool the house before bed. It is not easy to sleep when it is warm and stuffy inside the house. It is a cool, comfortable 70 degrees outside and a warm 77 degrees inside.
10:08 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues varying with the breeze. I can smell a hint of wood smoke one minute and none the next.
10:15 PM: A very faint varying trace of wood smoke continues. I am opening the windows to cool the house before bed. I hope I can cool it a few degrees before the air gets smoky again.
10:35 PM: Light wood smoke. Somebody starting burning. Close the windows. We got to open the windows for all of 20 minutes this evening. NORTH SAINT PAUL SUCKS!
10:45 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is getting smokier. Maybe -- just maybe -- by morning we will have fresh air again. 68 degrees outside and we are prisoners in our own home because the air in this shitty city is smoky! NORTH SAINT PAUL SUCKS!
11:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke remains in the air. The wood smoke got stronger after midnight.
When I woke at 3 AM the air was clear enough to open the windows. We can finally breathe the outside air again.