When eerie orange wildfire haze blocked the sun during my time in B.C. this week, I was prompted to write a poem about our Earth on Fire.

Welcome to the 170^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a quote of the week. Along with a poem about our Earth on Fire, this week’s edition has important information for Canadian snowbirds, fun facts about emus, and a new climate website.

On my mind this week: Wildfires too close for comfort

In recent years, much of North America has experienced hazy skies and air quality warnings thanks to wildfire smoke. Here in southern Ontario, the wildfires are usually hundreds of kilometres away, yet we feel their effects. It’s a reminder of the interconnectedness of all life on Earth.

During my time in British Columbia earlier this week, the wildfires were a little too close for comfort. As smoke from a fire blazing 100 kilometres away blew in, daylight turned to darkness within a couple of hours. As an eerie orange haze blocked the sun, it felt surreal—almost apocalyptic.

I captured a few photos of the sky and later sat down and wrote this poem.

Earth on Fire

A clear July afternoon
The sky suddenly dull
With a smoky haze

What is that smell?
It’s not a campfire
It’s our Earth on fire

A short time later
It’s dark as midnight
But it’s only 6 o’clock

The sky glows orange
Ash falls like snow
It’s hard to breathe

People stop and stare
Mesmerized by the sky
They shake their heads

An eerie apocalyptic feeling
Smoke blocks the sun
Is the world ending?

Wildfires all too common
Our Earth is burning
Will we ever learn?

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• On Monday, Laura and I enjoyed a wonderful day out with my cousin’s wife Evelyne. We visited the Canadian Wildlife Museum and Kangaroo Creek Farm on our way to Kelowna. Then we spent some time at the beach on the shore of beautiful Okanagan Lake. On the way home, we had a delicious dinner in Lake Country.
• I arrived home safely on Wednesday evening. I felt very grateful to arrive at our local airport instead of Toronto’s Pearson airport.
• Thursday was our 32^nd wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a wonderful early dinner at one of our favourite restaurants.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

Canadian snowbirds could be on the hook for U.S. taxes

Many Canadians spend winters in Florida, assuming they can spend up to 182 days outside of Canada with no tax consequences. Unsurprisingly, the IRS doesn’t play by the same rules as the Canadian government.

If you’re a Canadian who spends 182 days in the USA every year, you could be on the hook for US taxes. The IRS uses something called the Substantial Presence Test to determine tax residency. That test considers a portion of time spent in the two previous years along with the current year.

Another reason I am happy to spend my winters here in Canada!

(Source: Financial Independence Hub)

Emu dads responsible for childcare

During our visit to the Kangaroo Creek Farm in Kelowna on Monday, we saw an adult emu with several adorable baby emus in tow. When we mistakenly commented about the babies following their mother, we learned that emu dads take the lead in looking after their young.

Female emus lay their eggs in the spring and then lose interest. Dads sit on the eggs until they hatch and take care of the young emus.

What an evolved species!

New climate website

As part of its ongoing denial of anything climate-change related, the US government eliminated the useful and informative climate.gov website last year. Now, some former employees who worked on the site have recreated the valuable resource at Climate.us.  

(Source: The Carbon Almanac)

Quote of the week

We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns. For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It’s life or death.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Politician & Activist

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I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.