When I was in high school, we had to raise fruit flies to study genetics. I had a little test tube full of some sort of oatmeal stuff, and the fly larvae ate it and became adult flies, and then we would look at what traits they had, like eye color. After we had finished this experiment, the test tube just sat there, filling with larvae as the flies bred, until one day I took it out and looked at it. The oatmeal was now grayish brown with their waste, and it looked like they were all dead because they had ruined their environment, but when I opened the test tube, a couple of weak little flies enjoyed their freedom and flew off into the halls of our school.
I am here to tell you that this earth is our test tube, and nobody is going to open it to let us escape the devastation we have wrought. Once it's ruined, that's it. Today we were supposed to get rain, but there was no rain again, and the smoke is not as bad as yesterday, but it's still bad. I thought maybe this was our punishment for how cruel we are to each other, and I wept while listening to Tupac as I walked around the house, since it wasn't safe to go outside. How can the world mourn five billionaires who chose to do something reckless when they don't mourn countless migrants who die at sea in a desperate attempt at a bearable life? I decided not to turn on the air conditioning in reparation for my own sins that have contributed to this mess, so I closed the windows and pointed a fan right at myself. It was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
When Travalon came home, he turned on the air, and we went to the health club while it kicked in. We swam in the sport pool again, which is not as warm as the really warm pool but not as cold as the lap pool so it's kind of a Goldilocks pool - just perfect! Plus it has windows so you can feel like you're swimming outside on those days when the air is too poisonous to go out into it. I feel like I'm in one of those sci-fi movies where they have to wear gas masks to go outside. Imagine how the little kids Travalon works with must feel! If people tell them they can't go outside because the air is dangerous, will they develop a fear of the air? Will they always remember that week when they were five years old and the Big People said, "Careful! The air could kill you!" Or is this the new normal, and they won't remember it because that's just how it will be for them? I feel so bad for all the plants and animals outside that can't escape this. How dangerous is this smoke for a tiny creature like Squeaky the Hummingbird? How long can she survive this? They said it would be better by noon today, but then they canceled the outdoor concert this evening, and they're even postponing activities happening tomorrow. Right now it looks like there is no end in sight, and never any rain to wash it all away. I just want a good, old-fashioned thunderstorm right now.
Famous Hat
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