Our Viewpoint

A few weeks ago I was cleaning out my car and pulled a handful of masks out of the consul. I kept one in there, but figured the rest I could pack away in case we ever need them again. I figured that would probably be the next time I fly.

Then last week I dropped something off at a medical clinic and needed a mask to enter. Good thing I had that one in my car.

While the county still is seeing some new COVID-19 cases, there's another reason for us to keep those masks handy.

Montana is nicknamed Big Sky Country, and we are used to looking up and seeing bright blue sky. As has become customary in late summer in recent years, the blue has transitioned to a murky gray as wildfire smoke fills the valley. The smoke is mostly not from fires in the region, but from other states including Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Air quality alerts have been issued for the past several day for Sanders and surrounding counties. Those masks that became such a hot topic of discussion during the pandemic might come in useful during this smoky wildfire season. Pull out those masks to help protect your lungs from the dangerous particles that come with the ash and dust of wildfire debris.

I bet people will be a lot more tolerant of masks when people are wearing them because of the smoke instead of the pandemic. — Annie Wooden