Smoky Haze Looms

Being a runner, and one who doesn't confine this activity to an indoor treadmill, I have become a little concerned over the last couple of days about the explosion of brush fires, both in the Gainesville area and in northern Florida and southern Georgia in general. Not that I feel at all threatened by any fire: it is the smoky haze from them that ruins the air, making physical activity something that necessitates going indoors into air conditioning.

On my local TV news, it was reported that Gainesville and vicinity had experienced 30 such fires over the past week. Furthermore, with winds shifting to a northerly direction, those fires north of us are due to be sending their stinking haze in our direction. I experienced a few minutes of this yesterday morning, but the wind fortunately shifted again and it disappeared.

This morning I was apprehensive, wondering whether I would need to go to my YMCA and work out on the treadmill instead of my much-preferred road running through the neighborhood. But at about 10:45, I stepped outside and the air smelled clean. I ran my 7.18 mile course with ease, only limited by time restrictions. Let's see how it is on Thursday, when I'll be setting out on another run, possibly a long one (10 miles plus).

Tomorrow I have scheduled myself to swim, so I'm still going to be outside. Hopefully, my string of luck will continue and we'll avoid the haze in Gainesville. But more than anything, we need a lot of rain around here. That may sound incredible, considering the horrendous storms and flooding the southeastern U.S. has been experiencing lately.