Random Thoughts

I have been caught up in a writing project and haven't kept up with the blog world. Coming up for air, I have just some random thoughts.

• I have been making some connections with other chemically sensitive people, through this and other blogs and through the MCS-America email list. In so doing, I am continually amazed at the difficulties so many people face and the grace with which they do so. My heart aches for young mothers who can't attend their children's school programs, for talents that go unshared because of the isolation of MCS and for devout church members who can't even attend a regular sacrament service, let alone a potluck dinner or family funeral. Yet they carry on with courage worthy of any arctic explorer or war hero. I will be forever thankful for the miracle of cyberspace that allows me to reach beyond my caged existence and enter into their worlds.
• Yesterday (or the day before; I have lost all track of time this week), I read of a study which concluded that people who wear face masks in heavily polluted areas have a lower risk of heart attacks. In some big cities, like Shanghai, air-filtering face masks are common, but until this study, no one was sure if they were really doing any good. I have to admit that I have been sceptical, but after the experience I had today of traveling a mile or more behind a big pickup truck and breathing in its exhaust (Montanans and their big trucks--it's a culture thing), I'm ready to try the mask. The article suggested that the best masks are those that are designed to filter out dust, like construction workers wear. However, I haven't a clue where to buy such a thing--Home Depot? Lowe's? Anyone out there ever use one of these?
• We had yet ANOTHER storm blow in here last night. It is not as cold as the -17 F we woke up to one day last week, but it came with plenty of snow. I was not a happy camper as I ventured out into it to the health food store. There I ran into an old friend, and as we were talking she glanced out the window and exclaimed with delight, "Oh, look how beautiful it is, all that snow coming down!" The flakes were those big chunky ones that float, rather than fall and cover everything so completely that even dirty Montana cars look like giant marshmallows. Even I, so VERY tired of winter, had to admit that it had its own kind of beauty... sort of. T.S. Eliot wrote: "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" Ahh...words to live by (this time of year anyway).