I arrived in the US as a toddler. Our US military ship docked in Brooklyn. The transatlantic voyage from Germany to New York must have imprinted on me, created that foundational requirement for salt air. I do wonder if this early experience is also the origin of my tendency to get nauseous on medium- to large-sized boats.
"Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land,
wanting to fly in the air."--Carl Sandburg
I feel like that sea creature, stuck on land, wanting to fly in the air.
I satiate my need to be an airborne sea creature with negative ions. Something invisible that doesn't hurt the scent-sensitive person, but rejuvenates instead.Don't be confused by "negative ion," in this case, meaning an atom has an extra electron or two. That's good because the negative ion equipped with this extra electron is ready to hook-up (or bond) with the bad, positively-charged ion and take it down.That's the principal of some ionizing air purifiers. I owned one of the poor-performing models mentioned here; my allergy and asthma doctor advised against using it. No argument from me since the purifier made the air empty, dead, stagnant. The best option is real sea air.I'm very interested in trying the O2 air purifier and find the traditional HEPA-filtered Blueair 403 helpful during pollen season.Although negative ions are abundant near waterfalls and on mountain tops, I need salt water, not a lake. It's strange how being inland, away from the coasts makes me feel claustrophobic. My favorite saltwater environments are on Florida's western Gulf beaches and Bora Bora's reef-protected shores. I prefer a gentle ocean. The unbridled surf of the Pacific rolling or crashing into the California coast is my current hunting ground for my fix of salt air.On some beach visits, my happiest moments happen when the sand and the air and me are all at what seems to be the same temperature. Somehow we are one and as a bonus I hover in a moment of scent-free, pollution-free bliss. I've experienced this in the shower when the water and room temperatures were "just right." The best argument for taking a warm, not hot shower.
My adult-onset allergies decrease or disappear when at a sandy sea beach away from foliage. My preferred type of house stands above water with fish swimming below where a basement should be.
