It's official: We have a sprinkle

Mother Nature, having tortured the American West for a week, on top of her six-month beatdown of our entire species, is really rubbing it in now. There was actually a slight trace of rain on our newspaper as it lay on our walkway this morning. And I'm talking slight, almost imperceptible. Not nearly enough to help with our unhealthy air.

The recycling people finally showed up, a day late. On Monday morning, the air was so bad that they didn't pick up, and that set them back a day.

So with empty bins in an ashy, foggy mist, we start another Woden's day in 2020 A.D.

They're still saying there's a 50-50 chance of showers here, day after tomorrow. I'm pulling for the wetter 50. Let's wash this mess into our high-priced Portland sewer system. Because there's no sign of any wind above 7 miles an hour for the rest of the month.