Choosing beauty over hell

August 3, 2021

The sun rose red this morning.

Several days after a sprinkling of lightning strikes pocked the landscape on either side of the border between California and Oregon, I was reminded that we can experience a version of hell.

None of the fires is devouring forest swaths but combined they produce enough smoke to cloak the sun.

I immediately thought back to 2018 and the succession of days when the sun was a red dot, if one could see it at all. It was then that I became acquainted with the term “N-95 mask;” I still have a couple remaining from the 10-pack I bought at the paint store, in case I need them someday.

Today, I chose to take the scenic route to work, even though it made me a few minutes late.

Years from now, I’ll not recall the times I arrived at work on time, though I will recall riding between the river and a vineyard when the prospect of hell didn’t seem as bad.