It’s an unseasonably cold day in upstate New York, and Natalie Merchant is bundled in a purple parka for a Zoom call. She turns her computer screen to show the thick haze outside that has drifted in from Canadian wildfires, obscuring the sky above her rural home and making the unusual summer weather all the more disturbing. “We haven’t been able to go outside for days,” says Merchant, 59. “It’s hard to think about anything else.” Then suddenly, an unwanted guest appears at her window…
tony watkins
