Calm

It’s been a full week. I worked, the fires burned and I got one more celebration of my birthday with friends. Friends lost homes. I spent the morning today working in the shelter for medically fragile evacuees.
It was good to get home and work in the garden and I didn’t even wear my N-95 mask. The sun has been an orange ball and the air has been “very unhealthy.” We don’t have air conditioning so we’ve just toughed it out like many other folks in Northern California who also have sore throats and sore eyes. The pallor of the sky and dread of the fires’ danger have weighed on just about everyone. The firefighters are exhausted and the evacuees and shelter volunteers are weary. In the stillness of this hot, muggy evening I sense a certain peace because it’s Saturday evening and I feel relaxed and free, even with all the stress on people that just goes on and on. Odd when you get those disconnects but it feels good not to feel bad.