Shanghai Haze

It's 6:50am, I'm up early finishing a story since it's deadline day. Looking out our living room windows, I can see that the high-rises even just a few blocks away are veiled in smog.

When I was still an Alaskan, I was astounded that the horizon in Los Angeles was obscured by smog. This is so much worse than that.

I wish I had a three-month summer vacation coming up where I could go be a ranger aide at Honeyman State Park like I did in college. On Saturday I spent the day in the near countryside in Zhejiang Province, laying bricks with a Habitat for Humanity group (still sore!). It was amazing to smell flowers again.

Next week I'm spending five days in the mountains in rural Anhui for work. I'm hoping that will satiate my yearning for a break from the concrete jungle.