We're On Fire

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Eat fresh vegetables...check! Use organic toothpaste...check! Run three (3) miles...check. Inhale toxic smoke...ah, check? For the past few months, my state has been on fire. Every summer, it's expected there will be fires, but for some reason, it seems to be more devastating this year. I know that fire at anytime, regardless of the damage, is devastating.

Homes and acreage are burning less than 50 miles away from me. This is the closest that I have ever been to a somewhat out of control fire. The National Guard has been sent in and firefighters across the country have come to assist the overworked and very tired California firefighters.

The air quality has been very poor for the past few weeks. It has been thick on some days, not enough to notice visually, but after being outside for a while, eyes start burning a little and I've noticed tiny pieces of ash in the air coming down. The air we're breathing is not what anyone should be taking into their bodies. I can't believe that for some people (firefighters), this is a regular day and we were having only a mild experience.

Today, I received a message warning suggesting we stay indoors regardless of whether or not our health was good or poor. My oldest looked out of the window and said, "Mommy, it's going to rain." That is how thick the sky had become. The sky was missing and visibility was reduced on the ground. There is nothing unusual about reduced visibility, but during this time of the year outside usually looks like the first picture shown above and we have 90+ degree weather. Today, it looked like this and still at 90+ degrees, which only made it more unsafe to be outdoors.

We stayed inside and amused ourselves, which was a bit of a jolt in our regular schedule because the children have been spending most of their summer days outside. I was able to come up with enough to keep the children busy, but then they do a pretty good job of entertaining themselves. We still are looking forward to getting back outside, which hopefully will be tomorrow.

We can eat the proper foods, get the proper amount of rest, and take excellent care of our bodies, but there are some instances in life where we will be placed that are not healthy for us. That is even more of an incentive to take better care of ourselves. I'm not sure how these past weeks will later affect our health, but at least I'm doing my part to ensure that we eat well, make healthy life choices because you never know when you'll be placed in an environment that challenges your health.