Day 31: Air Purifier

One would think that after my husband spent thirteen months in a war zone in the middle of the desert without running water, electricity, or any of the other amenities we take for granted that he would be accustomed to dust. When he returned home he was suddenly hyper-sensitive to the almost invisible particles. He wouldn't drink from a glass of water that had been left out too long because it was "too dusty."  The South in the summertime was not the place to be for avoiding airborne particles.

We bought a black car while we lived in Georgia. Throughout the summer, which lasted from March until October, my car would be covered in a thick film of yellow pollen that would cling to my fingers and clothes each time I reached for the car door.  The housing we lived in was probably built when the base first opened during World War I. He was convinced that mold was seeping out of our central air system and spent just about every waking moment blowing his nose. The sound of his nose being blown resembled a trumpet or an elephant.

In an attempt to eliminate the safari sounds, I purchased the small air purifier pictured above. We kept it running in the bedroom. The constant whir helped to block out the ringing in my ears that started a few months after I moved to Georgia and never stopped. The recycled air was also cooler, which kept my husband happy. It seemed to make a difference in the air quality, even if it was just psychological. 

The air purifier made the move back to Massachusetts, but has since just taken up space in the corner of the room where all the weights formerly reigned. It's time to purify my home of this unnecessary object.