It was obvious, Beijing is a dirty city. The visual evidence: after a couple of dry and windless days the whole place is covered in dust and what looks like brown ashes. The hidden evidence: after a jog around the park or a cycle tour, we would see the brown dust we had accumulated, come off in the shower. Not to mention clearing your throat or blowing your nose.
We never made a big deal out of it. At some point you sort of adjust to those facts and live with it. Until that night in Ottawa, Canada.
We had been on the plane for a good stretch of time and arrived in Ottawa late at night. We had to go through Canada because the Visa regulations require you have the Visa before you enter the US. It’s impossible to get it arranged while IN the US. We didn’t mind, we liked to see the city and take some time to recover from the hectic last days in Beijing. Before going to bed, just to get some circulation and stretch the legs, we decided to go for a walk around the hotel neighborhood. Not more the a couple of hundred yards from the hotel, we walked past a small park and the street was lined with big trees, it hit me … “what’s that smell ?” Taking a deeper breath through my nose, it was clear .. “smell the trees !!” It had been a while since we’ve could enjoy the luxury of fresh air and smell the scents of nature. The rest of our walk we inhaled deep and filled our lungs. It was like the lungs were ‘liberated’ to take everything in that they could get: it’s all good..
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