the Central Valley

Today I learned that when they say the air quality in the Central Valley is 'Moderate,' it means that if I breathe there, my lungs feel sort of like they're on fire. The air smelled like the entire valley was on fire, and maybe it was, in that it was the Fourth of July, so everybody who wasn't at a bike race in Davis was home barbequeing.

Not exactly sure where the Central Valley is? Look for the terrible air quality stripe down the middle of California on this map. If you have any remaining doubt, click on the 'animate' button.