There’s ash in the air when we try to go outside. We haven’t seen the sky in days, if you think about it. If you look up it is always some shade of grey. It was so thick that we could almost look straight at the sun in the evening; an impossible orange sun that hazed out to grey.

We are incredibly fortunate to be safe where we are, with so much of the country on fire. Wildfires are common on the West coast, but this year Eastern Canada is in flames as well, and both Northern Ontario and Quebec. With so many different ongoing fires, no matter which way the air moves it carries ash with it. Visible flakes are in the air for the first time today and I am finding myself coughing if I go outside for more than 15 minutes.

It is very strange to be cooped up inside of the house this time of year. I am obviously conscious of the fact that I am lucky to only be inconvenienced by this, when so many others are unsafe, but it is still the first time I have encountered air quality so poor that we couldn’t spend much time outdoors. I have a garden that needs more than 15 minutes of attention a day to get established, but I am only just recovered from a three week long cold and wary of pushing things.

For now I am triaging what is most important outside, and trying to be creative about what can be brought indoors. (Transplanting seedlings in my kitchen was not my favorite experience, but they needed real pots and I need working lungs.) We are still wrapping up our school year so there is plenty to keep us busy, plus all of the little things that fell to the wayside between illness, school and spring garden prep.

It is hard to look at this year with the same optimism though, when even here the soil is dry and we are praying for rain…

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