The Mirna valley looks as though Mount Ontake volcano is not in Japan but in Istria. Or perhaps in neighboring Slovenia or Italy. Everything is gray. One can barely see through the thick gray curtain. Much of it is smog, of course. The most prosperous part of Italy, which is just across a narrow stretch of the Adriatic, generates a good deal of airborne pollution, as well. Much of it reaches Istria in no time. It is getting cold, and heating is kicking in across the Italian coast. In addition, there is plenty of industry over there. The smog is still a mystery in Istria, though. So many years after I warned about it for the first time, nobody is any wiser (“Smog in Istria,” January 14, 2005). If anything, the pollution has only intensified over the years. In spite of the economic doldrums, which are still gripping a good part of Southern Europe, Italy is churning along. Sooner or later, Istrians will get the message. Nearly bereft of industry ever since independence, their peninsula is still encumbered by industrial pollution. As the crow flies, Trieste is only forty kilometers north. And Venice is but one-hundred and sixteen kilometers west. Even a leisurely wind brings all the pollutants across in just a few hours.