As the planet heats up–Monday breaks the global record for the hottest day ever on Earth–I provide water for the wildlife on our bench-edge of the Wasatch mountains. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Mule Deer, California Quail, Mountain Cottontail, Lesser Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, House Sparrow, House Finch, Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Spotted Towhee, Coyote, Wasp (so many kinds), Bee (so many kinds). They stop by to sip or bathe in the dishes I’ve placed in the yard. If they drink water, the Great Basin rattlesnake may frequent a basin as well. We sit in our artificially cooled AC and look out. Like animals in a zoo. We watch the wildlife; they watch us.

I spend most of the Utah summer inside. Avoiding the heat and bad air: Air quality in Utah.

Winter air is grim (inversions) but summer air is worse (ozone and wildfire smoke). How do the wildlife survive the bad air? How do we? I use my inhaler at least once a day. I remember a summer, several years ago, when Dave set up an industrial-sized air purifier–now mounted on the garage ceiling–in the front hall. I stayed inside and breathed the purified air. This summer is almost that bad. We have a new HVAC system (installed July 2021), which helps. An artificially clean box for me to inhabit. When I’m not home, I drive in my air-conditioned car and work in my air-conditioned office. Or I write in an air-conditioned coffee shop or eat in an air-conditioned restaurant. The last time I spent any time outdoors, was in Sun Valley over the 4th of July weekend: cool temperatures and night-time breezes. Here, at home in Ogden, I cannot read outside, I cannot walk the Shoreline Trail, I cannot weed the yard. I sit in a red recliner reading, I practice yoga inside, I watch the weeds grow from my window. And I dart outside to refill water bowls. Oh, and pray for rain.