(written Sept 11, 2022)
Downtown Calgary. Step outside to a strong smell of campfire but of course it's not campfire. Wildfire. From BC again. It's a tiny little process my brain runs through every time large chunks of my nearby world come ablaze. Reminds me that we're here. That This Is The Climate Emergency.
That scent for me is the scent of The Climate Emergency. Within seconds there's eyeball irritation. Is it psychosomatic? Is my brain being dramatic? I already feel it in my throat but how can that be possible? I've only just stepped outside. Windows've been open all day though....
Have I been sitting in an incrementally smokier apartment the whole day and just not noticed, exactly like the proverbial frog in the boiling water? It's apropos: I'm actually living one of climate's most famous apologues. I guess we all are. Huh. That's what that's like.
See somebody jogging along taking big hulking gasps of smoke particulate. Trying to stay fit. "Not like that you're not," you whisper softly, sadly, "quite the contrary." Definitely feeling something in the throat now. I mean...right? Can't be sure. The mind plays tricks.
Back to the mission. Sunday. Pasta. game Of Thrones spinoff. You scan the eyes of passersby on your way to and from the store. Sometimes there's a recognition. That we're living it. That This Is The Climate Emergency and we're fellow travellers in it. But maybe you imagine that too.
There was none of this during the morning bike ride & stair climb. I mean...right? Then it was me taking those big hulking gasps. Will I be able to ride the bike tomorrow morning, do you think? Do I push the weights around inside instead? Like to get that heart rate up though.
Get back to the apartment & the campfire smell is undeniable. I mean, it *is* though, right? Close up all the windows & when one of the fans isn't working right you smash it. That's what gets your ire. Your angst. Mechanical devices that don't work right that you get to punch.
Maybe tomorrow it will be better. Maybe it won't.
This. This Is The Climate Emergency.
/END
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