Let’s get going buddy, Mama is waiting.
Ok
We step out into the hazy dusk and the air has clearly shifted. Unclearly shifted. Clearly unshifted.
It’s changed, is what I’m trying to say.
We’ve recently had a stretch of uncharacteristically pristine air, air that harkens back to another time and place. It’s been cold, and with the cool air came breezes, and with the breezes came
visibility, scenery, clarity.
Since the air has warmed, however, the landscape is now murky,
shrouded,
hidden.
When you live in a basin, just south of China, this is what you get.
Sometimes.
Where’s your mask?
Ooooops.
What?
I left it with Coach Coach.
Coach Coach?
Yeah, Coach Coach.
Oh, Coach Tu.
He has it?
Yeah, it was hard to shoot with it around my wrist. so I gave it to him.
Such are the things kids need to think about here. Mask management becomes a thing. Unrelated to COVID,
this is a clean air deal.
And tonight, the air is crowding us.
I taste it as we cross the playground. Smell it as we round the lake.
Feel it in my lungs as we cruise the home stretch.
It doesn’t affect me most days.
But today, it has a bite.
Get Up Eight 
I remember reading a post another year where school was cancelled because of the air, and my daughter’s family experienced that in Bangkok. I didnt know children were wearing masks to help. The image of mask around the wrist of a kid playing basketball is sobering. Thanks for sharing this uncomfortable aspect to your life.
Favorite lines: visibility, scenery, clarity… murky, shrouded, hidden/ when you live in a basin/ tonight the air is crowding us
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Your choice of title helped to walk us into your slice -“Murk”. These sentences make a point, “We step out into the hazy dusk and the air has clearly shifted. Unclearly shifted. Clearly unshifted.” The ups and downs of the haze.
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Love this! One of the first things I notice each day when I open the door to let the dogs out is the feel of the air. It’s really hard to describe but definitely impacts how I feel about the day. Thanks for providing some words for that feeling!
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Wow, it is very interesting to read about how the air quality affects life where you are. Masks are very helpful for many things. I remember when I had to wear them walking through dust storms in one place I lived. What would we have done without them? The story of the mask being with Coach Coach is endearing.
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