Blizzard of 2015: A Vignette

“Noooo… Please, no,” I plead as I watch the people around me hack and cough and imagine the aerosolized particles of disease permeating the air… As an asthmatic, there is nothing I loathe more than a respiratory track infection…

I try to reassure myself. I’m much better now… I’m strong, my lungs are strong! Heck, I’ve hiked 5000 miles in the last 2 years… But I take extra precautions anyway… I take vitamins, I wash my hands, I get plenty of sleep…

My lungs… They try… They try really hard… I exercise them, I treat them right, and they allow me to do amazing things… Most of the time…

But the Creeping Crud of 2015 went straight for my lungs as the blizzard of 2015 and subsequent storm dumped ~4 feet of fresh powder… I desperately want to go outside and play in the fluffy, beautiful, glittery white snow… but my lungs… They doth protest…