My entire city is covered in smoke and has been more or less since Sunday. The 400,000 acre (600 square mile) fire burning in Arizona, hundreds of miles away, is making conditions here absolutely dreadful. Every breath feels like sucking on 10 cigarettes worth of second-hand smoke. Mountains towering just 5 miles away disappear into the fog-like haze. Electrical lines are in danger of being burned up and that means rolling blackouts for NM and TX. I am taking an intensive summer course that requires reading, and my vision has gone blurry and my eyes are dry due to the smoke irritating them. The sun is often a round orange ball so dim you can actually look at it, and the moon is blood red. It is scary, to say the least.
I will write more soon�if I still have electricity.

I feel immensely sorry for everything living west of me.

~e