The Boy in the Bubble...

OK...it's perhaps not that bad...

oh who am I kidding?

It's bad.

There's a prescribed burn here today (they no longer call them controlled burns you know...mainly because the forest service here waits until it is windy and then sends people with flame throwers to nuke the forests...I believe most of our forest fires are indeed started this way...and when you're in a drought? Not a good idea) I noticed the funnel of smoke pouring up into the sky on my way back from the Thrift to open the shop this morning (yes, I have an actual thrift across from Snap Snap...lucky me) and the smoke was only obliterated by the fact that Rich had pulled up at the exact same time I noticed the smoke plume...and I'd much rather look at him. I needed to look fast however, because the smoke was starting to well up between us, and I was afraid that it may be my last chance to actually see his sparkly blue eyes...

I now have a weird head ache and shooting pains in the left side of my face...come to think of it, they started last night upon getting back to the house (I spent the day at the Airstream...lots of reading, napping, and fooding and crying (sad movie) and sneezing actually...hmmm) My left eye is watering...like the rheumy eye of an elderly person, leaving a stream of water permanently cascading down my face (and while I may not be a spring chicken anymore...this is silly) and everytime I look around, it hurts...so, it's closed.

Like Popeye.
(I'm just waiting for my forearms to grow out so I can get those anchor tattoos)

I kept thinking perhaps I had gone overboard on too many allergy foods as of late, or I had been grinding my teeth at night...but, I think it is the prescribed burn...cause' I'm really grinding my teeth now to try to stave off the pains that are moving from my left shoulder blade all the way to the top of my head...I hope I'm not having a stroke. People are starting to look at me funny when they come in...that is after they can locate the origin of the voice that is speaking from beyond the cloud of smoke...I keep wincing at them.

Rich came in later in the day after running an errand and from what I could see peering through the vaporous cloud that's now gracing the shop...may be doing worse than I am. I talked him out of running into the thick smoke "...what an awesome picture a big flume of fire and smoke would make!" (photographers...I would roll my eyes if it didn't hurt so much) but he hurried home to the Airstream instead...

and that's when I got the call...his gravely allergy voice on the other end,

"The smoke is here..."

Then the line went dead.

OK...not quite that dramatic, but I may have sneezed before I threw myself on his mercy...and his HEPA...Since he's sealing up the Airstream to emulate the Boy in the Bubble, could I come over after work and curl up around his HEPA so that I could breathe? (You see? Sneaky don't you think? We do watch Heroes together on Monday nights anyway, but this way I get to go and hang out as soon as I want, and since I can't see across the street, much less take a deep breath, how could I possibly walk my 4 miles? (Rozz came over this morning, so I um...missed my AM constitutional...ahem.) Really, a win win situation for both of us) The answer was, "come over as soon as you want"

Would 15 minutes from now be too soon?

I'll just make the shop run on the honor system for the rest of the day...

I just scared the living daylights out of a customer who walked in (seriously, it's like Candid Camera in here...people are not seeing me) by appearing out of the mist of smoke...wishing I could be like one of the witches from The Graeae, of Greek mythology (thinking that if take my good eye out of my head and use it to look around I could be spared some pain) but instead more like a geriatric rheumy eyed version of The Swamp Thing or a gently used version of Igor (The hump is there from bending over trying to brace myself from the shooting pains)

"how are you today?" I asked her

"wonderful!"

"me too, as long as I don't breathe too deeply, or I can stop sneezing...you know, from all the smoke?"

"Smoke?! Oh...I hadn't noticed"

?? ::blink blink (ouch):: ??

I painfully roll my eyes and disappear back into the soot-cloud that has settled in Snap Snap...


cough...cough...sneeze...

wince.