smoky sunset

Canadian wildfires kept Michigan indoors last week.

I was at lunch with a friend in her air-conditioned cottage, there to discuss a book that both of us had read over the winter and spring.  The day had been blue-skied perfection when I went in at noon, but by 2:30 as I walked to my car, I smelled smoke distinctly, and the sun was casting rosy shadows, almost like sunset in the middle of the day. 

I’m from Southern California, so I suspected right away that something was on fire.  It felt close.  But when I came home to check the internet, there were no fires nearby.  Still, the air quality was not good.  We could feel it in the back of our throats, that familiar burn.  Soon, the word had traveled around that this was due to wildfires in Canada.

The pall covered the whole state and beyond.  Fortunately, years ago my husband insisted, over my objections, that we put AC in our cottage.  I was resistant to that idea, because I always loved the Lake Michigan breezes cooling us through open windows.  But as I’ve gotten older, my tolerance for hot, muggy weather has decreased.  We had AC installed, and on multiple occasions I’ve had to admit that David was right.  Do you have any idea how irritating that is?

Last week air-conditioning was more than a luxury.  It was essential.  Any activities planned outdoors for the children of our community were cancelled.  Even the Ludington Library book sale was moved indoors.  We ran to purchase air purifiers, buying every last one that Walmart had.  Home Depot and Meijers were completely sold out.

Well into day two, the sky opened in a deluge of rain, and the wind picked up.  But the reprieve was minimal and temporary.  As we entered the week of our community tennis tournament, which is the only week that many die-hard tennis players come to Epworth, we waited to see if that too would be cancelled or postponed.  Fortunately, over the weekend there was steady improvement and all normal activities resumed. 

Many people don’t believe in world climate change.  Early on it was given the misnomer of “global warming.”  What is actually happening is that all the weather we experience is getting more extreme.  The summers are hotter, the winters colder, and the storms coming across Lake Michigan are producing more frequent tsunamis.  One-hundred-year floods now come more often.  And the most convicting thing is that I know my air-conditioned cottage and cars are partially to blame. 

Fires that rage out of control are more frequent and ferocious.  And though we might find breathing laborious, the smoke produces eerie sunsets, presenting an apocalyptic glimpse of what we are doing to our children’s world.

Love, Liz