Searching for Summer

Searching for Summer

By Mark Leitheiser

In her classic dystopian short story, Searching for Summer, British author, Joan Aiken, tells the story of newlyweds Tom and Lily and their search for a bit of sunshine for their honeymoon. Unfortunately, finding sunshine is nearly impossible since the skies over England are surrounded by post-nuclear war clouds, creating a dreary scene. “The clouds never lifted, whitish gray, day after day, sometimes darkening to a weeping slate color or at the end of an evening, turning to smoky copper, the sky endlessly, secretively, brooded.”

Aiken’s dark picture may sound like science-fiction, but in fact, it is already here in parts of our world. I was given a glimpse into such a world a number of years ago when I asked our foreign exchange student, who was from Beijing, China, what she liked best about rural Minnesota. “I like blue sky,” she replied. Huh? Growing up in a city of 20 million people, she had never seen a blue sky. She took pictures of our skies and sent them home to her family, who, like Tom and Lily, were always searching for clear skies.

Lately, we Minnesotans seem to have a lot in common with Tom and Lily as we, too, now have to spend a good deal of our summer searching for a bit of sunshine. Thankfully, our clouds are not the result of nuclear bombs but rather from the hundreds of wildfires burning out of control in Canada.

Now, it’s easy to picture a bunch of angry little miscreants running around Canada lighting fires just for kicks and who knows? What else is there to do up there? But in fact, experts tell us that most of these fires are started by lightning. This is nothing new. Lightning has been starting wildfires for centuries but lately, things seem much worse.

And, if we are to believe these experts, things aren’t likely to get better anytime soon. Why the dire forecast? Climate change. Officials tell us that increasing temperatures, combined with more trapped gasses and longer, drier summer seasons will spell trouble for the foreseeable future.

Another part of the problem is Canada itself. It is a massive country, slightly larger than the United States (It’s nice they can brag about something) making it the second largest country on earth behind Russia. To further complicate things, most of Canada’s population lives near its southern border meaning there are very few roads into most of the country. In short, Canada is a vast land of enormous untamed forests to the west with few roads to get there. When lighting strikes a match, there are obvious problems containing the fire.

Which brings us back to Minnesota. We don’t have to deal directly with Canada’s fires but we certainly have to deal with the smoke. Like many of you, I spent too much of this summer peering through smokey fog instead of enjoying the clear blue skies I have come to expect. For a time, I patiently put up with the burning eyes and health alerts but eventually, I decided I had had enough. I wanted some answers so naturally, I called my honorable senator, I. M. Sleazy and was shocked by what I learned.

“Sleazy here. You old enough to vote?” “Yessir, I certainly am. I’ve got some real concerns about-” “I got a bottle of Scotch and a poker game in five minutes so make it quick, son.” “Yes, of course. You see, I am concerned about the smoke from these Canadian wildfires and their effects on our way of life here in Minnesota. What can you tell me?”

“Shoot boy, if you wanna find the source of those fires, you’d best start looking at Washington . . . at the very top.” “What? President Trump is responsible for these fires?”

“Sure. Think about it. You ever heard of killin’ two birds with one stone?” Ol’ Trumpy’s got ‘er all figured out.”

“What are you talking about? Is this some sort of conspiracy?”

Now, lookee here, boy. Trump wants to make Canada the fifty-first state right? But for some reason, them folks disagree. You ever hear of a fire sale where you can get bargain prices?” “Sure.” “Well, the way I hear it, Trump is gonna burn ‘em out up there and then he can get that next state at a low, price. They ain’t ready yet but another season or two oughta do it.”

“But, who would want to buy a completely burned country?” “Aw, don’t you worry about that, son. Canada is like a bad haircut. It’ll all grow back one day. Trump ain’t no fool. He’s got ‘er all figured out.” “So this is all a secret deal to add Canada to the US?” “Are we being recorded in any way, son?” “No.” “Then that’s what I’m sayin.’” “That’s incredible. There’s more?”

“Sure, last time Minnesota voted Republican was in ‘72. Trump is gonna teach ‘em a lesson and smoke the voters out until they change their ways at the ballot box. It’s the perfect, two-for-one. Gotta go, boy. Vote early and often.” *click*

Still not satisfied, I wandered to the door of our local pollution control for answers. Carefully Repairing Air Pollution (CRAP) “Come in- we’re full of it.” Expressing my concerns about Canadian smoke, I was quickly told the problem was not to the north but to the south-specifically Iowa. “Iowa?” “Sure. Everybody knows Iowa sucks. Get rid of Iowa and the smoke stays north. Simple. Anything else I can help you with?” No. It’s hard to argue with sound atmospheric logic. Iowa . . . who knew?

We can blame President Trump, climate change, Canada or Iowa but one thing seems clear: if something isn’t done about the wildfires and their smoke, we will continue to like Tom and Lily . . . Searching for Summer.