An on-line story I didn’t read had a headline about the difficulties of wearing a mask in the South. It was easy to imagine its contents. I’d overhead two men in the post office talking about the problems late in the day when their beards regrew.
It comes to mind now, when afternoon temperatures are near 90, and I have to wear a mask in the house because of the smoke from fires. The problems began around May 18 with fires in Mexico. [1] By June 12, the weather bureau map was showing intense smoke south of Yuma; a San Jose, California, newspaper said the fires were east of Tia Juana. [2]
The biggest culprit according to the Mercury News was the smoke from fires in the Gila National Forest around Silverado. Today two are burning a total of 18,169 acres. There’s also one near Magdalena that’s grown to 2,827 acres. [3]
Then, this week a fire broke out around Truth or Consequences. The Mims fire wasn’t that large, 125 acres, but its smoke came up the river valley. The weather bureau issued air quality alerts Thursday and Friday.
As I’ve said before, I didn’t begin by looking for news about fires. I began having problems with my stomach and breathing that forced me to put on a mask.
Now, I look at the map [4] in the morning to determine if it’s safe to go out, or if I have to don what we now call "personal protective gear." As if making if sound like sports equipment makes it more acceptable.
I prefer the paper masks, because they let more air through. They are comfortable enough that I can wear them when I’m sleeping. And yes, with the smoke, I have to do that.
This week they weren’t enough. I had to resort to the three-ply Chinese ones I mentioned in the post for June 1. I’ve learned to knot the elastic ear loops to make them fit. That just reduced the air flow and made them hotter to wear. They’re so close to my skin, they burn my lips.
I can imagine how much worse masks are when humidity is added to heat.
I’ve begun to wonder why we’ve fixated on masks as the method to stopping the spread of the Coronavirus. I saw a photograph of someone in Germany wearing a modified welder’s mask, a plexiglass face shield. It might not stop the virus from coming in at the sides, but it would be much more comfortable than a mask for extended periods of time. Besides, the longer one wears a non-medical mask, the less protective it becomes.
I suppose we began assuming the virus would come and go. When something is temporary, one finds the cheapest solutions that are easily available. The methods used by medical professionals were promoted for all of us. It’s what we saw in photographs from Asia in previous viral epidemics.
But, now, we know we’re in this for a while. Rio Arriba County had 13 new cases in the past two days, for a total of 25 in the past 14 days.
It’s probably denial that makes us continue to use temporary solutions. It’s a kind of white magic to delay changing our behavior in hopes a problem will disappear.
One model we haven’t considered is the veil used by Islamic women. They may have had patriarchal origins, but they evolved in hot, arid climates where dust was a problem. They would be as good as the face shield, and cheaper to make. One could do it oneself.
Americans, of course, wouldn’t consider them. People have had enough problems with policemen who think their masks signified nefarious intent. Their reactions to anything from the Middle East would be much worse.
So we suffer through problems we make for ourselves through our reactions to crises and to our aversion to things "not invented here." And, meantime, we have our highest number of active Coronavirus cases so far.
Sources:
1. I mentioned the problems with smoke in the post for 19 May 2020.
2. Bay Area News Group. "Wildfire Smoke over Much of Southern California." The [San Jose, California] Mercury News website. 12 June 2020.
3. NM Fire Info website. Updated daily. The fires are the Tadpole and Good in the Gila National Forest, and the Vics Peak Fire in the Cibola National Forest.
4. The weather bureau (NOAA) air quality website is: https://airquality.weather.gov/sectors/southrockies.php
5. Wikipedia. "2020 Coronavirus Pandemic in New Mexico." Updated 20 June 2020.
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