The view from the back of our house faces north, looking at the hills on either side of the Columbia river. They are brown this time of year, after a hot and dry summer. For a few days, the view was hard to see because there was smoke to the north(1). The bridge that crosses the Columbia from Wenatchee to East Wenatchee has a view that follows the river upstream(2) for a long way. As I drove across it the other day, I took a quick photo on my phone of the thick smoke that was now filling the valley. I know that I shouldn't really do that when I'm driving, but it was just a quick second snap, and I had the picture. A fire had started in a place called Chelan, and the smoke had blown in our direction. Thankfully, it cleared up(3) in a few days. If you are familiar with forest fires, you might know that they can last much longer, and the smoke can invade surrounding towns, bringing everything to a halt(4). Once, a long time ago, my husband and I left Wenatchee for the day because the smoke in the valley was so bad; we couldn't stand it any longer(5). I don't envy the work of the firefighters this time of year. It's grueling(6). Smoky the Bear is a cartoon character that appears on television and talks about avoiding forest fires. He is part of a campaign by the government to educate the public. He appears as a friendly bear in a hat, carrying a shovel, and his motto is “Only you can prevent wildfires.” Statistics show that, in this country, 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans. And, as you can imagine, a 'wildfire' is one that is unwanted, and out of control. As you drive near forests, you will randomly see Smoky the Bear posters on the side of the road as a reminder to be careful with fire. The effects of being careless can be devastating. The wildfire up in Chelan is out now, and the smoke to the North has cleared, but the expense and waste of forest will be long lasting.

1. 'Smoke to the north'. When we talk about what we see in a certain direction, we use 'to the..'

   a. The mountains are to the north, and the desert is to the south.

   b. This house has a lot of windows, and to the east is a view of a golf course.

2. 'Upstream' is a direction. It refers to rivers and streams, and it is the opposite direction of the water flow. Generally it is said that a river flows 'down', and so 'upstream' is against the flow of water.

   a. Salmon swim upstream when they return to their birthplace to lay eggs.

3. 'To clear up' has several meanings. It can mean to tidy up. It can also be used when an infection is going away/getting better. And it is an expression used with the weather.

   a. Let's clear up these toys; the place is a real mess.

   b. Her ear infection has finally cleared up.

   c. The thick clouds have cleared up/ the storm cleared up later in the day.

4. 'To bring something to a halt', 'to grind everything to a halt', or 'to bring everything to a grinding halt' are often used to describe how something (powerful or unwanted) will stop normal activity. 'Grinding' is an excellent descriptive word that refers to metal brakes.

   a. The sudden snow storm brought the whole town to a grinding halt.

   b. When Lady Sotherby found the cockroach in her salad, it brought the dinner party to a halt.

5. 'To not stand it any longer' is a very common phrase which means the same as 'to bear' or 'to put up with'.

   a. I had to put earplugs in last night. The neighbors were having a party, and I couldn't stand the noise any longer.

   b. I tried so hard to not scratch my mosquito bites, but then I had to do it. I couldn't stand it any longer.

6. 'Grueling' means extremely exhausting and physically punishing. It comes from the word 'gruel' which is an old, rare word meaning a kind of soup. The exhausting activity leaves a person like gruel. It can be used figuratively as well.

   a. The triathlon was grueling; it took us days to recover.

   b. My interview was grueling. I don't feel confident about the result.

If you have comments or questions, feel free to email me at acupofenglish@hotmail.com

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 Once in a while a fabulous opportunity comes along, an opportunity to experience something excellent and unusual, a wonder of the world, perhaps. I had just this kind of opportunity in Seattle this month. The Pacific Science Center has the collection of items found in King Tutenkhamun's tomb. My son's class had planned on making(1) a special trip to this exhibition as a final field trip. All year long, the school had been raising money for this special event by having bake sales(2). Everyone had bought and eaten cakes and cookies all year, and helped to pay for the museum visit. My job was to drive. I was lucky to go; in fact, once I had heard about the Egyptian exhibit, I was determined to find a way to go. A teacher, a parent, and an extra student came in my car, as well as my son. Each driver was given an itinerary and a map of the museum. Our schedule was going to be busy and packed. In the space of(2) five hours, we were going to go to the planetarium, see a laser show, see an Imax movie, and finally see the tomb items of King Tut. Somewhere in the middle we were going to squeeze in (3)lunch. So, we had lots to chat about on the way there. The three hour journey went very quickly. We all gathered in the parking lot, and made our way into the Science Center. The place is huge. There are different floors, and different rooms filled with exhibits from dinosaurs to insects, and planets to robots. It's impossible to see everything in one day; you have to be selective. We made our way through the exhibits, lunch, and the movie, and finally it was time to see King Tut's gorgeous stuff. I was so excited. The whole area was elegantly painted black, with spotlights on each individual item. I was amazed by the amount of relics, statues, and jewelery found in his tomb. I was busy photographing a statue, when I realized that my son had disappeared. He had raced through each of the rooms, just glancing briefly at everything, and was near the exit. He wasn't interested in reading about anything; he's nine. It was fun enough for him to sneak through a series of dark rooms. When I caught up (4)with him, I asked him if he had seen the king's mask. “Yep,” he said, “it's right over here.” He took me to a glass case and pointed at a statue. Well, it looked like King Tut's face, but it wasn't the mask. I looked around quickly, wondering where it could be. A security guard was standing nearby(5), so I asked him where it was. “Oh, it's not here,” he said. There was a pause. “It has stayed in Egypt since the late 70's.” I felt completely deflated. How disappointing! Everything else was stunning, of course, but I had been expecting to see what was on the posters that advertised the exhibition: the mask. The icon of Egypt simply wasn't there. If I want to see it, I need to take a trip to the Cairo Museum, and, in order to do that, I'll have to do a few bake sales of my own.

1. 'To plan on doing something' is good, native sounding English which can have many variations:

   a. We planned on driving all night.

   b. They planned on meeting us half way.

   c. She planned on freezing the cake after she made it, and keeping it for Christmas.

2. 'In the space of....' in this case refers to time. The word 'space' means an area or span of time.

   a. In the space of two hours, I cleaned the house, taught a class, and paid the bills!

   b. In the space of three days, they hiked over the mountain and across the border.

3. 'We were going to squeeze in lunch' means that you are trying to 'fit' lunch into a busy schedule.

   a. If we hurry, we can squeeze in a nap after lunch, just before the meeting.

   b. They didn't have much time, but they managed to squeeze in a museum visit before they caught their plane.

4. 'To catch up with someone' has 2 meanings: it is to physically follow and meet up with a person, or it is to find out what has been going on in the life of someone who you haven't been around for a while. In this paragraph, it is the former.

   a. He ran ahead of me, but soon I caught up with him.

   b. I hadn't seen them for years, so we spent some time catching up.

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