Since When is Fresh Air a Blessing?

While all my friends from the northeastern part of the USA are posting pictures of freshly powdered winter wonderlands, my friends in China are posting pictures of face masks and smog. To be honest, I wouldn't consider myself to be THAT concerned with the environment. I guess I kind of turned a blind eye to what emissions can do to this place we call earth.

Well, last week I got a wake-up call. Never in my life have I been exposed to such pollution. Coal-burning power plants coupled with the vast number of factories and cars produce massive amounts of pollution. Check out this article from elitedaily.com. The pollution was honestly so bad you couldn't see anything!

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving morning – the way it should look.

Here is a picture from Monday – and it was on one of the better days we have seen this week.

The cloudy air wasn't just seen outside. I went shopping this weekend and thought the store was on fire - it looked like it was full of smoke; I was wrong - just more smog. 

While your kids were enjoying snow days, Chinese kids were celebrating ‘pollution days’. Seriously – no school because the pollution was so bad!

I always thought face masks were a complete joke and were reserved for those in the painting profession or paranoid germaphobes...well, I have joined the movement.

The effects of pollution are seriously being felt – sore throat, the sniffles and I promise it isn't in my head either. Tim and I run together a couple times a week – maybe three miles at a time. This past weekend we couldn’t get through one mile without sounding like life-long smokers – we couldn't breathe.

As much as I love China, I am so ready for some FRESH air!