The Fire…
Sometimes your world exists on more than one level. There’s the world of politics, the one that’s always there, the one that I cover for a living, the one that I would be writing about right now if it weren’t for the fact that my world is on fire – literally. For the past few days there have been fires about three miles north. Now there are also fires to the east and northeast. I’m still not in an evacuation zone. But I have a bag packed just in case.
I’m not in any danger. If that changes, don’t worry, I’ll go where I need to go and I’ll be fine. But still, when you can stand on the roof of your building and see massive fires in all directions, even as the sky is so dominated by smoke that the sun has a hard time poking through, it’s really difficult to focus on anything but that.
People I know, in other parts of town, have lost their homes or their places of work. This is a real thing. It’s not theoretical. Yesterday evening a friend in another part of town offered to take me in if I end up being evacuated. An hour later his home was in an evacuation zone. That’s how surreal all of this is.
As of last night it’s become difficult to breathe outdoors without a mask. The tap water is still safe here but that’s not true a mile north of here. The electricity is still on here but there’s no predicting when or if it might go out, given how many other neighborhoods have lost theirs.
My story is no more or less important than that of anyone else who’s caught up in this. And so far I’ve been very, very lucky. But at the moment I’m so focused on watching fire containment maps and evacuation zones that it’s a bit difficult focusing on the national politics of it all. Don’t worry, I’ll get back to politics as soon as I reasonably can. But today things are just a bit… different.
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