miasma

miasma [maɪˈæzmə] n.

1.) Infectious or noxious exhalations from putrescent organic matter; poisonous particles or germs floating in and polluting the atmosphere; noxious emanations, especially malaria (Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition).

Etymology: modern Latin, adopted from Greek µίασµα, pollution, related to µιαίνειν, to pollute. Cf. French miasme.

"A door slammed. 'Primo,' I said—or meant to say. But he was gone. Never apologize. Never explain. I stepped carefully down the alley, leaned around the corner, and felt my way brick by brick back to my car. Some son of a bitch had snatched the flower off the hood. I got in and drove out of town, through the shining miasma of my drunkenness, turned off the highway, and went up a steep dirt road that led to a pass between a pair of cactus-studded hills" ("In Defense of the Redneck", Edward Abbey, 1979).

(Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah)______________________________________________________

Here's a rare tribute to my Southwestern heritage (the quote and the picture, not the word). Extra points to anyone who had heard of Edward Abbey before!