The rain in Spain

I'm not actually in Spain, nor is it raining, but today was absolutely gorgeous and from my office, I could see for miles. I judge the pollution/air quality by how far I can see and some days, it's really bad. You can see the clouds, edged with brown, the haze spreading across the flat horizon, and there's this feeling that the world stops where the clouds begin because it's impossible to see any further than that.

Today wasn't one of those days. It was beautiful, clear, a nice cooling breeze, and the air smelled fresh -- not like sweat socks, like it's apt to do.

Today the horizon ended at the limits of my vision. I could see the gleaming stacks of the refineries, the sun glancing off the chrome, and from my perch high above the city, I saw them as things of beauty rather than belching chimmnies of black soot.

I think that if everyone could see the air the way I see it, from more than 800 feet up from the ground, then they wouldn't argue against pollution controls or the fact perhaps all this stuff we're putting in the air isn't causing the weather to go haywire. Four days out five, the proof is out there.