I enjoy science related puns. Like this:
Dear Gaia: Thank you for your rotation. It makes my day.
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Item #1: Bad & Good 
Above: Looking NW over Wenas Lake late Monday, Aug. 31, 2020.
The bad news is that 20 miles south of the Naneum Fan there has been a fire burning through grass, brush, and some trees. Monday afternoon start time. They haven’t given a cause yet, but likely a person or group did something that should not have been done. As of Friday afternoon the area involved is 70,000 acres, about 110 sq. miles. That is about 3.3 times the size of Manhattan island. When the smoke clears it will be apparent that much of the land was not burned. Five homes have burned, but most of the area is structure free, except along the road that runs along the right side of the Lake.
The good news is that by Friday afternoon the increase has been nearly stopped. Lots of crews and airplanes have had time to move to the region and wind has slowed.
Left of the smoke is a long sloping surface to a sharp ridge, called Cleman Mountain. We have ridden horses there to an elevation of 5,000 feet. To the right is a less high area called Umtanum Ridge, that is visible from here. We’ve been there too. We have riding acquaintances in the area where the fire started.
Nancy will have more on Sunday.
Item #2: Scarcity of color
This week there are two plants blooming; both (as far as I can determine) are a form of Rabbitbrush. The larger is called Rubber Rabbitbrush (also Gray RB) apparently because of the gum-like sap of the roots. The leaves are thin, like a pine tree needle. The smaller plant is called Green Rabbitbrush, with blade-like leaves that curl. Upper right insert. Why?
Summer has been dry and hot, and still they bloom.
Item #3: Remember polio? 
In the photo, the nurse is at a smaller tank respirator (“iron lung”) while the closer one is adult size. The tank had portal windows so attendants could reach in and adjust limbs, sheets, or hot packs.
This Panic2020, in the early part of the year, included a frantic search for “ventilators.” Now the big story is a search for a vaccine. A search for common sense is in order.
Anyway, this got me to thinking about the Polio scare when I was about 10 years old. I do not recall our school, or anything else, being closed, but I have found newspapers, like this 1946 one, that report school closures. I don’t remember 1946.
We lived about 70 miles from Pittsburgh where the Jonas Salk team at the University there developed a Polio vaccine. That became available in 1955 and we youngins got our doses in school. I’ll have to ask some elders about what they remember.
Iron Lung
Item #4: Ice 
Ice is scheduled to retire at the end of September.
This Belgian Malinois U.S. Forest Service police dog, 11 years old, has been stabbed on two occasions. The events happened as officers were making raids of marijuana growing in the Klamath National Forest in northern California.
Did we really need more reasons to dislike Californians? Story link
Item #5: News you can use 
Do not let anyone take your temperature on your forehead, it scrambles your brain cells. At the grocery store I went in for lettuce, tomatoes, and Blue Cheese dressing. At home, I realized I had purchased a pizza and 6-pack of beer.
And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John