Thursday, September 10, 2020

Permanent dawn

Yesterday, I awoke to a dark, orange-hued sky. The sun, however, never seemed to 'wake up'. I couldn't gauge what time is was. Early morning looked like late afternoon looked like midday. Although it seemed Armageddon was upon us, much of the smokey air was trapped above a marine layer of fog, so it was easy under mask to breathe. I went to the beach for a short walk & met with a friend for a socially-distant coffee.

Below is a shot of my hometown's massive Taco Bell structure on the beach. This snap was taken just after noon.


Taco Bell in sepia.
Me, contemplating an empty cup.

I've not yet been outside today. Looking through the front window, I see that the sky seems to have returned to normal. -don't know the level of smoke in the air yet, but I suspect that it's worse than yesterday. I've been using an app. called PurpleAir in order to determine whether or not it's safe enough to venture forth. It's a colored-coded affair. Green is good; yellow is no longer so good; orange is suspect; red is no-go; purple is GO INSIDE. 

I'll wager we're in 'no-go' territory about now. Not like Covid is a good thing, but it's good in so far as I've masks at the ready. Although I would imagine that a cloth mask isn't really going to do much to combat particulate matter like a proper PPE-type mask would do. 

Anywho, that's all the news that's fit to blog!

Be safe and well. x





31 comments:

  1. Sadly it was our fires at the end of last year and early this which ensured we all had masks.
    I feel for you and hope that they can be brought under control.
    Seeing the air that we breath is truly nasty. And I remember the layer of grit on every surface in the house (and no doubt in our lungs).

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    1. When I wrote the post, I was thinking of you and the horrendous bush fires Australia has endured. There's a layer of dust on all the cars outside here. The air is stinky/smokey. It's tough stuff.

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  2. Uggh, hideous. This looks worse than what we endured through our summer. I feel for you ... Waiting anxiously to hear from a friend in the middle of it all in Oregon - the footage is shocking.

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    1. Poor Oregon! One doesn't normally associate wildfires with that state. May your friend be safe & well!

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    2. Just had a merry facetime with her. All is well. Phew!

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  3. Yeah, here down south the skies are just as ominous, although less of a smoky texture. I know we have a few burning in our area, but I think you guys have got it worse. Stay safe.

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  4. You're in my heart. There will be so much sickness from all this evil air.

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  5. Oh wow, first of all I thought it was a beautiful sunset! Please take care and stay inside as much as you can!

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    1. Thank you, Joey. It was sort of beautiful, to be honest. -only going out to go to the shops. The air is very bad today.

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    1. Absolutely. We're hunkering down and waiting for the bad air to clear.

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  7. Saw pictures of SF bridge on our tv. Frightening, both now and for the future.

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  8. Wow. Thanks for the Purple Air link. It is helpful as we are supposed to be purple this weekend as the winds bring smoke our way. Take care and stay safe.

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    1. Welcome! Stay safe up there!

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    2. We got some rain today so that was a nice relief. Hope it has cleared a little bit for you guys.

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  9. That looks terrible. How far away are the fires?

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    1. Active fires aren't too close, but they are to the north, south and east of us. Santa Cruz county, in the south and still blazing, is about 70 miles from here. There's a fire in the north-west about 40 miles away, and there's a fire due east about 90 miles from here.

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    2. Last night we watched the news and it all looks horrifying. I hope there is a change in the weather and that the fires can be brought under control. Stay safe.

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    3. My geographical knowledge of U.S.A. is not very good and I wondered exactly where you are so googled Taco Bell structure on beach and presume you are at somewhere called Pacifica. I also wondered what a Taco Bell structure was and see it is a Restaurant and that there ae two in Auckland.

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    4. Yes, Taco Bell is a fast-food chain. I sort of can't believe it's global! The structure itself pre-dates the Taco Bell & may be some sort of protected structure in my hometown of Pacifica. I live in San Francisco now and Pacifica is about 16 miles south of SF directly on the coast. Thank you for the well-wishes, Susan!

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  10. We had a couple days early in our SoCal fires when day looked like night outside. Now, the sun still is blocked much of the day but we don't have such darkness. The air is polluted though and the only mask that could catch the tiny malignant particles would be the N95 only distributed to medical personnel. The closest Bobcat Wildfire here has gone from 6% containment to 3% — definitely in the wrong direction. Thank heavens the Santa Ana winds haven't gone crazy as they can. I’m quite safe but several communities east of Bobcat flames threaten areas in Duarte, Bradbury, but Monrovia is the main concern right now. Do stay safe and use care exposing your lungs to S.F. air.

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    1. Thank you, Joared. The air quality at present is safe. Who knows if the winds will change and we're once again told to stay indoors. May you and yours be safe down south as well!

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  11. Dear Bea, I'm relieved that you have an app that helps you decide whether or not to go outside. I'm wondering how the homeless and the workers who have to be outside are doing. Last night on the news, the meteorologist showed a chart/map of how the wind has carried the smoke over to Europe. We live in scary times. Peace.

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  12. Our sky was that same eerie color for about a week. I mainly stayed inside with all windows closed. I have a few N95 masks that we bought long ago for wood working, sanding, etc. and I read that is the only mask that filters out the dangerous smoke. I am using purpleair too, plus accuweather. Be well.

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