Hazy Days

The air quality this time of year here pretty much sucks. We're talking such heavy haze that it reminds me of pea soup fog days in Atlantic Canada... only this stuff is super unhealthy to breathe! Schools close, and everyone stays indoors as much as possible. Those of us without air conditioners make excuses to hang out at the malls where there is air is cleaner. In between times we deal with headaches, skin rashes, itchy eyes, asthma - whatever our bodies do to protest the unhealthy air. Fortunately for us, the effects are minor - a few more headaches and some itchy eyes. Still, it's not pleasant.

Everyone suddenly talks about the weather, hoping for rain to clear the air and give us some relief. It did rain on the weekend, clearing the air enough for us to see the mainland (about 14 km) briefly and for us homeschoolers to have a "back to school" party in the Youth Park on Monday. A very special gift to us all, as the very next day the Air Quality Index readings skyrocketed to a Very Unhealthy 225!











It was a great morning of kids swarming the playground equipment and lots of mom-talk and discussing what we'd like our group to be like for this year.  As you can see, it is quite a large diverse group this year.


In other news, our back to school first few weeks here in the Hu home have been kind of rocky... we weren't fully ready to begin, and since the end of August Mom has had one health issue after another - and not small stuff either! For example, Mom is currently directing school work from her bed, needing to be on her back to keep severe sciatica pain at bay... But, while household routines are pretty ragged to non-existent, the household is running. Our house might not be too clean, meal times all over the place, and meals rather ad-hoc, but the kids are amazing. They've cooked meals, done extra housework, put themselves to bed, gone out to activities on their own, and worked their way through schoolwork on their own as much as possible... and pretty much without complaining too. Hopefully Mom will be back on her feet before the good will runs out!