Wildfires, burning out of control, are continuing to threaten thousands of homes in California. A lot of people are going to lose theirs today. You can’t help but to have this incredible sense of the fragility of everything. As human beings we are wired to think that everything will stay the way it is, safe from sudden and intense changes…
We’ve had a very dry summer and the global warming is not helping. It is pretty scary to watch (even on TV) a fire that “jumps the freeway”. In my last post, I said that we have only one season here but I have to correct that because we have four: the earthquake season, the mudslide season, the fire season and the last but not least the Oscars season – each as unpredictable as the others in its outcome.
Just found these images (above) by Pooya Monajemi on BBC. Like Dante, we may all need our guide getting us out of Hell. “What region of the earth is not full of our calamities?”Virgil
The arbitrariness, the randomness of it all is astounding…”You did or did not escape the fires?” That could be the current definition of a Californian. The two images (above) from yahoo say more about these devastating fires.
I took the picture above from my car, trapped on the closed down freeway 14 near Sand Canyon, a couple of hours ago – I still have the smoke on my hair.
I heard about this yesterday on the French radio .. Another disaster.. Yes.. when are we going to be out of this hell ?
How long will it take…. ? and what can we do, and how, each human being on itself ??
Impressive documents. None of my words is strong enough to express my feeling.
The fires in SoCal seem to be reaching cataclysmic levels. The only silver lining I can see so far, is that the number of lives lost has been very small. My thoughts are with those who are fighting to save what still can be, and those who have lost so much in the last few days.
I recall as a child standing on our front lawn in Santa Monica, gazing north at the red glow at the crest of the Topanga Canyon mountains. The difference now is that the population in Southern California has tripled or quadrupled since then. And natives and newcomers alike love to build homes in those rustic canyons. Like you, Michele, I pray for those in danger and suffering loss. It’s easy to say, “It’s just ‘things’ that are burning.” But some of those are precious mementos, the last physical evidence of family lore.
It is an awakening experience to see how quickly everything that you hold dear can vanish in blink of an eye and more sobering to understand how little control you have over it.
I hope you stay safe!
Khane-am abri ast
Khane-am abri ast
Yeksare ruy-e zamin abri ast ba an.
Az faraz-e gardane, khord va kharab va mast
Bad mipichad.
Yeksare donya kharab az u-st
Va havass-e man
Ay neizan, ke to-ra ava-ye nei borde ast dur az ra, koja-i?
Khane-am abri ast amma
Abr baranash gerefte ast
Dar kheil-e ruzha-ye roushanam ke az dast raftandam,
Man be ruy-e aftatabam
Man baram dar sahat-e darya nazare.
Va hame-ye donya kharab va khord az bad ast,
Va be ra, neizan ke dayem minavazad nei, dar in donya-ye abr andud
Ra-e khod-ra darad andar pish.
Nima IUSHIJ
Rom, 1 Aban 1386
D
-Forest Fires in Southern California.
-Georgia has declared a state of emergency over its worst drought in decades.
We as a humanity do not seem to understand the gravity of effects of Global Warming, and these yearly worsening signs..
The rose and the torn, sorrow and gladness are linked together.
Abu ‘Abdallah Mosharref-od-Din Sa’di
These are well-known words of Shirazi poet, Sa’di, wich grace the entrance the United Nations headquarters in New York:
Bani adam a’za-ye yek peikarand,
Ke dar afarinesh ze yek gouharand.
Chu ‘ozvi be dard avard ruzgar,
Degar ‘ozvha ra namanad qarar.
To kaz mehnat-e digaran bi ghammi,
Nashayad ke namat nehand adami.
Abu ‘Abdallah Mosharref-od-Din Sa’di, Golestan
Rome, October 25th 2007
D
To be continue…
What beautiful and sad pictures! Los Angeles is still burning along with our hearts.