Crazy prices and pollution

Prices are still going up around here. Yesterday when I was shopping at our local grocery store, I looked to buy a box of Cheerios for Zeke and saw that a regular size box cost $13.10!!! That is one thing I won't miss when we leave here this summer. I suppose it is a good idea for me to start focusing on the things I won't miss rather than dwell on what I will miss.

Another thing I won't miss is the air pollution which seems to be worse than ever. Lately, in the evening, it smells like someone is smoking a cigarette in my living room. I find it affecting my mood, which has never happened in the past. Huck is coughing a lot, he has asthma, and I caught a cold, which is rare for me. I assume the pollution has an effect on the immune system. Luckily, I've read that the effect of the pollution is short term. Once one leaves the polluted atmosphere, the damage reverses. For those of you who wonder why we don't wear masks, I will tell you that the particles are too small to be blocked by a mask. The masks you see people wearing only protect from the particulate during the dust storms, so we just have grin and bear it.