Smoke Choke

So this is Raleigh... are you having trouble seeing through that haze? Yeah, me too. This is not a morning fog, or smog. It's just plain smoke.

I first noticed it walking past the windows at work... by noon, any fog should be long gone (especially in this heat) and being unable to see the sky is always pretty strange unless it's raining.

So I looked up the weather forecast and discovered that wildfires in the eastern part of the state were the source of smoke which moved in to the city today. And apparently, because of the wind, won't be moving out until Saturday.

I'd like to say it's just a minor inconvenience, but it's pretty serious. The smoke is everywhere--you walk outside, and you're inhaling smoke. And if the odor of it alone doesn't bother you, in a few minutes just breathing will get difficult. We noticed it in the office when people started leaving for lunch--opening the door lets in the smoke, causing everyone in the office to start coughing. Going outside is even worse, of course, so that inhaling it begins to burn before too long.

I don't bring this up just to complain--there's not anything anyone can do about it anyway. But just to remind us of how fragile we are, and our dependence on air. That said, a hurricane headed this way to clean it all out sounds really nice right about now.