Tuesday, October 23, 2007

An outer circle of hell...

...is where I'm living right now. Though spared all the misery being visited by those people in Malibu, Orange County, San Diego, the resort areas of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear and the Santa Clarita Valley, it's smoky and hellishly hot Where the Ghetto Meets the Sea.

Look at the photo in the last post. I live right under that big smoke plume.

So far, I haven't been outside today. Closed all the windows and turned on every fan I have. It's not helping; the only time I can even begin to breathe normally is when I stand in the shower, which I've so far done twice today. I'm running out of Visine, too.

PARENTHETICAL I'M-NOT-THAT-MUCH-OF-A-SELFISH-CREEP THOUGHT: Again, I'm suffering nothing compared to the 500,000 evacuees, some of whom have lost their homes. But misery is misery, and while I don't share the pain directly, I can't escape being on the fringes of it.

Most of the areas now on fire or already burned are familiar places. Some have been favored photo locations, some were nice places to drive through, and some are ugly reminders of how destructive continuing population growth can be.

Conditions are not getting better. The winds and minimal humidity continue to fan the flames, and optimistic predictions of how soon the weather patterns might change are being revised.

We've been lucky here. There is plenty of brush to burn in areas a few miles away, but it hasn't happened.

Fires are a part of living in Southern California. Human stupidity has made them more destructive and dangerous.

2 comments:

Toby said...

I hope you are able to stay safe and will be able to breathe and see clearer soon - my heart and thoughts are with you... O~

Anonymous said...

I'm looking at your NASA photos, at all the smoke over the ocean, and thinking that it ain't gonna be good when the Santa Anas shift back.