As if the price of gas in California wasn't enough, then the stock market looks to be going Bear and now we haven't been able to leave our houses for fear of 2 to 10 times the unsafe level of air particulates from Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo to Redding, California, a stretch of about 450 miles at least south to north. I'm here on the Northern California Coast but had to pretty much stay in my house with my family most of the time with all the windows closed just so I and my families lungs would be okay. I would go out to see if the air was breathable every two hours or so and once every 2 or 3 days one could find the air clear enough for an hour or two to turn the fans on and open the windows to get a clean change of air.
I can't remember it being this bad this long along the coast. I have seen it much worse when I was younger in the 1970s and even 1980s in Mt. Shasta during summer fire season, but never have I ever seen the 1400 fires in California at once. This is completely unheard of in the last 100 years or so.
Since I live on the coast there is finally some good news. Tomorrow, the normal coastal fog will push the smoke south and east away from us so we can breathe once again outside. My adult son who is home from medical school this summer and I got into the hot tub for the first time in a couple of weeks outside in the back yard. It was such a relief not to be breathing smoke. The ash has been falling hard for several days now. It covers everything. I was a little concerned tonight because even though the particulate matter will all come to the ground tonight with the heavy dew from the ocean fog it will also make lye from the ash and water combination and lye is very acidic on car paint and plants. So though it will help us all breathe much better it won't help the plants or car paint for any car outside tonight.
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