Smoke haze

Throughout January, I've received a lot of queries from international families and friends asking about the catastrophic Australian fires. My answer has been that the fires haven't really directly affected me, except for a couple of weeks of smoke haze blanketing Melbourne.

One of the five reasons I left my previous position was that the air quality in the winter was unhealthy, and there were no leaders in the state who could or would do anything about it.

Unfortunately, the air quality under the smoke haze has been far worse than even the winter inversions. Fortunately, it has blown away from Melbourne again, and our air is clear and fresh again.

Yesterday I flew to Canberra for a meeting for the day. There are still bushfires burning out of control near Canberra, and the city was blanketed in smoke.

I tried to take pictures from the wide airport windows. The nearby hills that are usually green in the summer were lost in the smoke haze.

It's not healthy to be outside in that smoke. I spent the time of my transit delays walking up and down the halls inside the airport, ticking up my step counter while breathing (somewhat) filtered air.

I was glad to leave. I hope it clears up soon for them, though, and doesn't come back to us.

And I wish there were leaders who could do things about air quality. Bush fires. Climate change. Somewhere in the world. I don't believe such people exist anymore.