81 F/ 27 C

Is it smoky? - that
depends which direction you
are facing and when!

~carliewired

At 6 AM I decided to venture out with my camera. I had a look to the downtown but it was shrouded in smoke. So, I headed off to the west and Kamloops Lake where the sky looked blue and bright. It turned out to be the best choice.

I stopped to get a panorama of the wetlands pond and Tranquille Farm behind it. The morning sun was just beginning to light up that area.

I pulled over across from the pond to find one pelican dredging the waters. Near the pond,  a doe grazed in the grass. This is the first time I've spotted a deer in this area. My telephoto lens was really stretching to catch these two. 

I drove to the end of the road by the farm to turn around to catch my mountains in the east. The smoke over the city made them almost invisible this morning. 

Two osprey were perched near the nest by the farm. One sat in a tree looking out towards the pond. The other sat atop a pole looking over the nesting platform. The two called to each other. 

I got my last shot looking across the water channel towards the river. 

I picked up some breakfast and was home before 7:30. I'm in for the day trying to keep my feet up. 

Our city is poised to apply water restrictions as we are already at Level 4 drought. We have not had extreme conservation rules before but we could be at Level 5 drought within the week. With high temperatures and low river levels, we're reaching a crisis. To begin, outdoor irrigation will be limited to hand-held spring-loaded nozzles. I guess that means I have to shut off my automatic sprinklers which are measured and timed. I don't care about a green lawn, but I don't want to lose my plants and trees.