 |
|
 |
| Fresh AIR |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
| What a marvelous medium is air! Beauty means the sound of inspiring music...The person who has a song in his heart as well as on his lips is well armored against the drab assaults of life. There is more than beauty in song; there is strength and courage. Although sound travels through water and other media, the air is all around us and carries the sounds right into our ears, where it sets the "keyboard" of the inner ear vibrating so that we can hear beautiful, exciting, sad, or warning messages. Regardless of the health and size of your vocal cords, you couldn't talk or sing if you exhaled no air from your lungs to set them vibrating. When oxygen in the air combines with your food, it supplies energy for your brain to think, your heart to beat, and for your muscles to contract so you can walk, bend, reach, sit, or lie down. Full, deep breaths of pure air get more oxygen down deep into the lower clusters of air sacs of your lungs. This helps to clear out the germs that collect down there and might start disease. Fresh air speeds up the circulation of your blood, getting more oxygen and nutrition to all your cells, and removes waste better so you can think and work efficiently. When you're sick fresh air and sunshine can help you to get well sooner. Both sunshine and fresh air kill germs. Fresh air helps to calm your nerves and enables you to sleep more soundly. Overexposure to cold air is dangerous because your blood pressure is raised in an endeavor to keep you warm. This puts an extra load on your heart. When you feel cold, there are fewer active white cells in your blood stream. Remember, they are your germ fighters, your lifesavers, so when they are not in there ready to attack the germs, your resistance to colds and other infections is lowered. You need air within the proper temperature(60 to 80 degrees) and humidity range (30 to 65 percent ). One of our big problems today is air pollution. Every year industrial plants and cars spew out millions of tons of air contaminants... solid particles, gases, and liquid droplets. When we add to this the dust, pollens, insecticides, and smoke in a stagnant air pocket, we have a disease-producing atmosphere. During the day plants and trees take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. We and other animals take oxygen from the air and return carbon dioxide to it...This is a perfect balance, but we have cut down our forrests and built factories and cars to contaminate our atmosphere. During periods of dense smog in large cities the death rates rise. That is why we have smog alerts over the radoi and TV warning us, especially the aged or ill, to stay inside and use our air conditioners. If you decide to get a good air conditioning unit that not only recirculates the air but brings in fresh air and filters it, you may find it well worth the cost in terms of your family's health. But when the air is clear, it is worth a lot to your family's health to get outside and breath deeply and enjoy it's lifesaving benefits. Regardless of the fact that we have really messed up our atmosphere terribly, there still are many blessings that it brings to us. For instance, air pressure enables the insects, birds, and planes to fly. It's buoyancy makes ballons rise. We also enjoy the cushioning effect of air in such things as tires, pillows, and air mattresses. Air is a natural transportation system for moisture, seeds, pollens, and odors. It transmits sound. It is by means of these odors in the air that insects find their homes, their food, and their mates. And thats how mosquitoes can find you, in the dark! But on the brighter side, can't we be thankful for fresh apples, opening roses, a sprig of mint, and freshly baked bread? "Wind," a little boy once explained," is air in a hurry." One of the nice things about " air in a hurry" is that it turns the windmills to pump water and do other tasks. It also makes our sailboats skim gracefully over the water and colorful kites fly high in the sky. |