Spring: a time of renewal, growth, the part of the year when Persephone gets to return to the Earth after spending some casual time in the Underworld, cherry blossoms. Oh, and in South Korea? Yellow Dust.

What I would describe as a parasitic cloud of fine dust that oozes down from the Gobi Desert to hang menacingly over South Korea intermittently throughout what is supposed to be a pleasant time on this earth, and thus induce sickness. Researching the contents of this dust is simply horrifying (namely carcinogens, viruses, bacteria, fungi….all the fun things you want hanging out in your lungs). The possible results of this on our poor human bodies is asthma, a sore throat, and a variety of other health problems (and it’s obviously worse for the very young and very old).

 

For me? I have lost ability to breathe. I am writing this surrounded by tissues, peering through the scratches in my terrible glasses (wow – I really need to update these) after having to remove my contacts due to fine dust attempting to kill my eyes. This is probably my third? fourth? time getting sick in the last couple months. Here I would insert a deep sigh or something equally as dramatic. Yep, I’m a veritable baby when I’m sick.

If the day is going to be particularly bad we get an alert sent directly to our phones, which is helpful. The last few days of heavy dust have killed me. Hard-Learned Lesson #1: wear a mask when walking outside during the Yellow Dust season.

 

Mostly, I’m ready for Summer to start, and the Yellow Dust to get lost. Oh, and to regain the ability to breathe.