Collection search - Blue River, British Columbia

There is a terrible heat all the way up the valley road. For the past week now, the mercury has been creeping up slowly, insidiously. I've seen rough hands flic-tap the thermometer bulb but there it defiantly hangs. And each new day brings new forest fires. The radio compares the biggest in size to the smallest of countries. First riled, then fanned by a west wind, there blooms a plume of smoke that has soiled the summer cotton clouds. The Rocky Mountains exhale a sticky humid closeness. Then, there is a yelp, and a splash of water that can be heard from the road. I get off the bicycle and cross into the backyard. The part-time cowboy says it's too hot to drive his truck. How hot? He says he saw two trees fighting over a dog.