Seeing the Sky Again

After seventeen hours of traveling, Mom and I made it home today. I fell into bed at 5pm tonight only to wake up 4 hours later and not feel sleepy. Jetlag is a stark reality at the moment.

We met many more interesting people including a German-born American that I spoke to in German on the plane. After floundering along in Chinese for so long, it was lovely to speak in a language that I have some grasp of. And after that he helped me haul all of our baggage off the circular area where all of the travelers huddle around and try to pick out their black non-descript bag from all of the others. He said the bags weren't heavy. My aching arms were really glad they felt so insignificant to him.

We asked him what business had brought him to Shanghai. He apparently works for an environmental firm in Denver that is testing the air quality in places around the world. Shanghai is "pretty bad" he told us while shaking his head. The measurements were comparable to Mexico City which is supposed to be one of the worst in the world. He said that my dry scratchy throat is probably a result of the pollution there.

I was so glad to see the deep blue sky in San Francisco and even think the ovecast in Tacoma looks lovely. I have always been something of an environmentalist but the air in China has really motivated me. Imagine, if you will, living in a soup of smog that sometimes hovers near the ground and leaves a film in your apartment that isn't dust. Imagine it first for 5 weeks and then stretch that out to years or even a lifetime for my friends who live there.

I learned from the German that we cleaned up Los Angeles when it was that bad. We've really got to do the same for the rest of the world, too. I say 'we' because I am so convinced that the earth is all connected at this point. What happens in Shanghai affects my corner of the Pacific.

I never want to see my bright clean Washington state become a place where I never see the sky. I also pray for that kind of beauty for the 1.3 billion Chinese in their own country.

It might mean giving up our cars. Trust me. It's worth it. Or don't trust me. Visit Shanghai yourself and you'll agree.

And that's my soap box for today.