Everyone talks to their cats, Laurane. I agree with you on that one. It's a shame that some people are so boxed in to rigid world views that they can't look over the fence and see that yes, it's a big wide world out there and most of it is very different than what we were told as kids.
As for the weather, terrible smoke lately. One day we didn't dare go out because breathing was so bad. Just minimal chores and felt so sorry for the animals. We have smoke from Montana (Glacier park?) or British Columbia (600 fires there now) or California. Breaks are rare and if we can see the mountain it's just a shadow, no trees visible.
On the bright side, the heat wave is over for now. Still in drought, but that's normal enough. The sounds, though, are louder than normal, and so many ear tones I don't even give them much attention unless they drown out voices. Darn! It's just moving around out there. Our main house door won't close right and hasn't -- we'll have to change the frame, because the house has shifted that much. And the back steps have pulled loose from the deck and are being repaired this week. One side is lower than the other now.
So much for living out of the earthquake zone!
Stay happy. This is an amazing time to be alive, with so much to experience. Much is chaos, but so much goodness, too.
AR