The Story of Plain Air

In the fall of 2020, I did not have many options for how to keep my family and I in good spirits. School was a grind of remote learning over zoom with very little personal interaction. All the activities my kids usually participated in were suspended. Museums and other activity centers were shuttered. There was one activity that we could safely engage in that everybody enjoyed: disc golf. We played it every day. It was what we looked forward to every day.

That is when the fires started. For weeks and weeks fires raged all over our home state of California. The hills around our house create complex wind patterns, and we would routinely go from clean air to horrible air in a matter of an hour or two. Like everybody, I was constantly checking various air quality sites to try to get a sense of when it was safe to go outside. The problem was, there were dozens of places that we could potentially go, and it took too long to go through checking what the air was like at all those places. I created a dashboard so I could tell at a glance what the air quality was like at each of my family's favorite disc golf courses. Many times the air would be horrible at our house, but there was a course with very good air a ten minute drive away.

The 2020 fire season in California was exceptionally bad. We all hope that we do not have to experience another time of so many converging disasters. However, we do have to face the fact that frequent forest fires are going to be a part of our lives for some time. We need tools to keep living our best lives during these hard times.

Plain Air is a tool that can help you keep track of the air at your favorite places. When fire season hits, you will be able to jump when an opportunity arises to get out of the house and into fresh clean air. This little dashboard made a big difference to me and my family, and now I am sharing it with you.

Please stay safe, and stay healthy.