Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the thirtieth day of the month is "Depression."
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Do you remember the song "Hazard" by Richard Marx? I feel like this is an unprecedented amount of music talk on my blog this week, what with Radiohead and songs about dogs and now this. ANYWAY, the air quality here in my spot in Wisconsin has been deemed very unhealthy to hazardous, so I had to revert back to wearing masks outdoors like I was living in April 2020 or something. And each time I heard someone say hazardous about the air, I started humming Richard Marx. This is my life.
Anyway. For much of the last week, there have been particulates in the air. These particulates make me feel like I am gasping for air every time I leave my house. It's been hazy and weird. People are talking about how going outside is like smoking three packs of cigarettes a day and as I'm walking Hannah, I'm wondering what exactly I'm doing to her lungs. And then I start thinking about the animals that don't get to go inside for most of the day and then I get the sads.
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| A fine hazy over everything. I kept trying to clean my glasses. |
For most of the week, I was back to masking up when I left the house. This time it wasn't because of COVID, but I was happy we had a bunch of these laying around so I could walk Hannah around the block without needing an inhaler.
I haven't posted my accountability post for June yet, but you're all going to see that I didn't run outside at all in June. Not once. Not even with my fancy new shoes. Between the excessive heat, the dryness, and the air quality, it just has not once been an appealing option for working out. But I made such a big deal about buying new shoes last month that this development is quite depressing, truth be told. The air quality will presumably get better soon, so maybe I can get out in July.
How's the weather quality where you are? Have you been able to enjoy the outdoors without crappy air quality?
Ironically, since it usually us (CA) that has the smoke in the summer, our air is pretty darn clear right now. I will knock on wood now. I am headed to Oregon and Idaho soon and hope that they are clear too. I guess the winds are headed south/southeast from Canada these days and not west, thank goodness. Actually, I learned something recently; did you know that in the US the prevailing winds are from the west? I only learned this because I am thinking of riding a bike across the country and most suggest going west to east so that you don't have a headwind the entire time. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI think I only knew the thing about the winds because when I lived in Michigan, all the winds came off Lake Michigan, so I sort of understood that weather moves from the west towards the east. But I am confused about north/south winds, to be honest.
DeleteHow's the weather quality where you are? We've been in the red zone these last two days, but it's green out this morning heading to red again I'm told. It's boring to be stuck inside in the summer. During the gray days of winter I accept it, but not in June when it should be glorious outside.
ReplyDeleteRight? This air quality is ruining my SUMMER. How dare it?
DeleteAir quality isn't great here at the moment but improve soon -- for how long, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder how bad it is in Canada if it's like this for us!
DeleteWe've had a smoke stack here for the past two days! This is definitely a new one for me. I've just been going about business as normal - dog walks and the occasional errand.
ReplyDeleteOh, interesting that you haven't noticed any health issues because of it! I guess not everyone is as sensitive as I am - I saw a guy wearing an electric scooter (no helmet) smoking a cigarette on Wednesday while I was wearing a mask and wondering about the damage I was doing to my dog and wistfully wishing I could be as carefree as Scooter Guy!
DeleteWe've had a pretty heavy haze here too (neighboring Michigan). Before I went outside and smelled how acrid it was, I thought it was hazy from humidity!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how widespread it is! I thought it might be better today and it's maybe a little better, but still not great.
DeleteI am a walks-outside-daily person and I have been able to go outside for 2 of the past 5 days. When I go outside, I get an instant headache. Your description of gasping for air is very relatable. I had asthma as a child and have not had problems in decades -- but I feel like it would all come surging back if I spent a few minutes outside. I have been worrying about my friends with dogs (and their dogs!). Hopefully it will clear up soon.
ReplyDeleteI am much more worried about the dog than me. Her lungs are SO SMALL. If I had a tiny dog, I don't even know what I would do. Probably not let it go for walks at all - just a quick back and forth to the backyard. Fingers crossed that it improves soon for all our sakes.
DeleteThe smoke has not made it as far as Florida, of course, but I do sympathize. When I lived in NC, I used to refer to the summer air as like trying to breathe through a wet wool blanket over my face, but that's just the humidity, not smoke, which would be even worse. Definitely smart to limit your outside time, and wear a mask when you have to go out. I hope it doesn't bother Hannah too much.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem to bother Hannah at all, which is fortunate, I guess. I am the one doing all the worrying!
DeleteSurprisingly, the air quality has been really good here. We had so much rain in the last few weeks that it cleared up all the smoke!
ReplyDeleteYou're smart not to run outside - that is very hazardous in those conditions.
The air quality does seem to be improved today, so hopefully we can get some rain (we really need it) and clear out the rest of the grossness soon!
DeleteWe haven't experienced any of this in Florida, and it's making me grateful that ALL we have to contend with is the heat. Usually I'm grumbling about the heat in the summer, but at least it isn't dangerous to go outside (well- unless you have a heat stroke, of course.)
ReplyDeleteMy sister (near Chicago) said they got some rain and she was able to walk outside today. I hope your air is a little better today as well!
Yes, our afternoon walk didn't feel quite as punishing today as it had earlier in the week, so hopeful things will turn around.
DeleteElla attends summer school for two hours every day in a lovely town 20 minutes away, so I've been walking during that time, but not for the last week due to the poor air quality. I didn't realize how much I took AIR for granted. 🤣
ReplyDeleteI totally get this. There used to be an oxygen bar at my mall and I used to roll my eyes hard at people going there to get air. But now I get it!
DeleteWe've had wildfire smoke here too, which is extremely distressing both for what it means for our lungs and for what it means for the planet. I mask outdoors and am still hacking and needing my inhaler by the end of the day. We're walking Lucy less and playing with her inside more to save her lungs and ours, but that's harder with a big dog who needs more space for exercise. It sucks.
ReplyDeleteI really feel badly for the folks with high-energy dogs. I don't know what they're doing. My dog is content to just wander in the backyard for three minutes, but I know that's not the case for all dogs.
DeleteOh, and do not stress about the shoes - they will be there when you and the air quality are ready
ReplyDeleteI should definitely reframe it like this. I just wish I hadn't made such a big deal about it last month! But I never would have predicted such a weird June.
DeleteIt's been hazy and smoky all week. And I'm amazed at how I can smell that smoke. We've been under a health warning all week, too. I worry for all the dogs AND ALL THE COWS!
ReplyDeleteAll the cows and wildlife and people who work outside and it's just terrible!
DeleteI am so sorry your air quality is so crappy! We've lived through this many times recently what with all the fires in CA and I definitely know how you feel. I hope the smoke dissipates quickly.
ReplyDeleteI have always taken our clean midwestern air for granted, but never again! I'm so sorry you have to deal with this regularly - it's definitely put a crimp in my outdoors lifestyle.
DeleteNew Jersey- very hazy but not as bad as it was in the middle of June... Hope it gets better by where you are!
ReplyDeleteIt's getting better every day. It's still hazy(ish) here, but there's no smell and I don't feel like I need an inhaler to walk outside, so I'm calling it a huge improvement!
DeleteUgh. I masked outside this week too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad things are getting better. I've stopped wearing them again.
DeleteThanks for popping by my book post today. Boy, I'm with you on the depressing air quality situation. We have been in the 280s for most of the week and the visibility has been awful. For me, coughing, ,sneezing icky eyes. I've masked --I'm one of those high risk people. Glad I held onto them all!
ReplyDeleteYou'll get out there soon! It was pretty bad here too, but I think WI was a bit worse!
ReplyDeleteYes! It's already better and I'm happy about that.
DeleteUgh, sorry you've been dealing with this terrible air quality! Florida is fine - we've just been dealing with VERY HOT days and lots of humidity. But the air quality is at least in a healthy range for us!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine dealing with the heat and humidity like you guys do. We have a couple of days forecasted to be in the 90s this week and I'm already dreading it!
DeleteWe had had awful air quality, too. It's really depressing because we wait and wait for summer weather to arrive - and then are stuck inside due to poor air quality. Paul's first water Wednesday activity was canceled due to air quality so he was super bummed about that. And it really impacts Taco since he NEEDS outdoor time to run off his energy. Plus he is just generally obsessed with being outside.
ReplyDeleteIt's so disappointing. We wait ALL WINTER for the glory of the summer and then we're sent back inside. Things are better here now and I hope they are for you, too, and you can get those boys outside to play!
DeleteIt was just awful, I agree. At least we've gotten some rain the last few days - so needed! They haven't been talking drought at all until this week - hello, people? It hasn't rained, maybe that's a problem? Sigh. If it's not one thing, it seems like it's 10 others...
ReplyDelete