As I write this, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is 15. This is good, very good. Lately I’ve become quite well versed in the parameters of the AQI. Anything below 50 is good, smooth sailing, no problem, might as well be sitting on the beach in Maui. Between 50-100 we’re still in good shape but better be vigilant. Once we start getting into the mid to upper 100’s, well now we’ve got problems. A few days ago the AQI in my town was 220! In Oregon, the latest front in the climate fires currently raging out west, my friends there are choking on air with an AQI of 450 and higher! That’s equivalent to sticking your head into the top of a smoking chimney.

The perfect storm of Covid, wildfires and toxic air have me now more than ever appreciating one of the simplest, most basic pleasures in life: breathing clean air. Freak lightning storms in August sparked numerous horrific wildfires in California and Oregon. I don’t think I need to recap the news for you. As a result of these fires the air here has been basically unbreathable for over a month. That’s why today feels so good. 

The gentle breeze moving across my back deck creates a wind chime symphony, clearing out the smoke and purifying the air. What’s that huge patch of blue up there between the eucalyptus trees? Oh right, that’s the sky. After experiencing Apocalypse Orange and Nuclear Winter Grey, I much prefer the Robin’s Egg Blue that I’m currently looking at. And the air! I fill my lungs. In through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose, out through the mouth… I better be careful or I may hyperventilate! I walk around my yard and smell my neighbor’s barbecue, freshly mown grass, the tomato plants in our garden, night blooming jasmine. I’m so grateful  for one thing that I don’t smell, smoke! When is the last time I breathed air this clean? The breeze feels so damn good! I can breathe! Thank goodness I can breathe!