orange skies (nyc day 21)
I've been seeing air quality alerts for a few days now (since last week, actually), but since I've been sick and cooped up inside it hasn't really affected me. That all changed today, when I woke up from a nap in a room cast in orange light and a distinct smoky smell that made my eyes water and chest hurt. On my way to the laundromat the sky was so hazy I could look right at the sun (don't try this at home!). Apparently this is all caused by the smoke blowing over from the Canadian wildfires, and what's worse is that scientists are saying that these Canadian wildfires are the worst they've ever seen for this part of the world and likely exacerbated by climate change.
I've been swamped by work recently. Fortunately, my boss seemed to acknowledge as much, because he pretty much let me off the hook at noon for the rest of the day in a very off-brand move for him. I took advantage of the freedom to take a long nap, catch up on my long-overdue expense reports, and rest. After my long weekend I know he'll throw me back in the wringer so I'm mentally preparing myself for that.
I'm also very grateful I'm feeling better today—it's a wonder what consistent nights of good sleep can do—and I've finally allowed my attention to drift towards my weekend in Boston. I have some friends I'm going to meet there, but other than that I pretty much have no plans other than ramble around. It'll probably stay like that, too; I looked online for some of Boston's top attractions but none of them seem particularly interesting. (Do I like looking at art? Sure. Do I want to spend one of my three precious days in a city indoors? Not really.)
While doing laundry today I started reading Diarios de Motocicleta by Che Guevara, and I'm once again reminded why, in all my thirteen (and counting) years of learning Spanish, I've never finished a single book in Spanish (or any foreign language, for that matter): it's hard! The books that I want to read are especially difficult, because although I speak Spanish frequently, I don't have exposure to enough vocabulary to fully understand what's going on. Not being able to read and understand something instantly frustrates me to no end, like using chopsticks with my left hand. But I know I need to get used to that discomfort if I want to grow. I haven't taken Spanish classes in ages and I know I should soon to get back in the swing of things but I've been so busy...
thank you for reading; write to me at yourstiramisu 🐌 proton dot me