The clear skies of Monday feel oh-so-far-away at this point. After another lovely backyard tea (so lovely I forgot to take any photos!) celebrating my neighbors baby due this fall and an afternoon of pizza & beer with Andy's sister and mom, we were caught completely by surprise at the wildfire smoke that quickly rolled in as we were enjoying a dessert of plum cake. By Friday the air quality had rocketed up to Unhealthy, so we had the house entirely closed up, and were only stepping outside as absolutely necessary. By Saturday, conditions were wavering between Very Unhealthy and Hazardous, so we spent the entire weekend revisiting an old favorite video game - Fallout 4. It felt especially bizarre to find clearer skies in a post-apocalyptic video game than we had outside, but 2020 just seems to be one strange and uncomfortable experience after another. One hilight in a gloomy week - after hoarding my slicing tomatoes for about weeks (stupice, if your curious), along with my first harvest of jalapeños and a precious onion (of which I planted far too few) I made my first batch of homemade salsa. Charring veggies under the broiler with such poor air quality probably wasn't the best idea, but it was well worth it. Thankfully Andy managed to fabricate an air purifier for us using an old fan from our woodstove and a couple of HEPA filters, so we were able to keep out indoor air safely breathable after my broiler adventures!