Smokey Air

We've had some icky air lately. Thanks to a brush fire in the Great Dismal Swamp located in the state south of us, we have had smokey air for about a week. It is stinky! The air is just smokey, you can see the haze in the air that is smoke floating north. Saturday was really bad, and we spent a good part of the day outside. The boys went fishing. Every time the doors were opened and closed, a wave of smoke smell came into the house. Saturday night or early Sunday morning, we had rain. It washed away the smoke and Sunday was pleasant. Monday morning was good too. The air was clear and I was hanging laundry out. A little after lunch, I hung out some laundry and was sweaty from the hot, humid, summer air. I ran upstairs to shower. When I came back down, the air was hazy again. I thought it must be just humidity hanging thick in the air. My hubby called me from work and asked if it was as smokey here as it was at his work. I opened the door and was knocked over by the smokey smell. I ran out to the back yard and quickly pulled the laundry off the line. Luckily, it didn't smell too bad as the smoke had only just rolled in.

Last night I woke up around midnight to a most magnificent storm. The wind was blowing so hard that the trees were all bending to the side. Rain pounded at our doors and window and the lightning storm was fantastic. I opened the window curtains so I could watch the storm. I thought how great the air will be in the morning after the storm passes. This wind and air are just going to blow that smoke away.

The sun lights the sky at 5:30. I woke up and held Peanut as the sun rose. Looking out at the window I realized the smoke was still hanging in the air. I can smell the smoke in my kitchen. Ug. I had hoped the storm would take care of it, but it didn't. More smoke blew in with the storm.

I'm trying to keep the kids in the house, especially Peanut. I don't need her developing asthma or some other respiratory illness due to all this smokey air. She has a cough and congested chest already. Poor baby, only two months old and she has had several colds and now this flemmy cough. Also, it isn't easy keeping the 5 kids happy in the house all day. There is school work to do in the morning and chores, but after lunch, they feel the cabin fever and my nerves start to twitch as they run through the house in the afternoon, chasing each other with dart guns. I sure hope (they) get this fire taken care of so we can have clean air again and I can send the older kids out to play - for my sanity....