About a Fire

Dear Readers, it’s been difficult to get back to this blog. to write about ordinary or personal things. As many of you know, there was a wildfire in Santa Cruz County that burned thousands of acres and destroyed almost nine hundred homes. The fire did not threaten my home, but there was ash everywhere, burnt leaves, and the smell of smoke in everything. Hundreds of people lost their homes; many are still displaced. It was, and is, going to be a very difficult recovery. On top of the pandemic and the chaos in the White House and around the election—wow. And yet, as always, there is that sense of resilience, rebuilding, of the community taking care of each other, as we did in the 1989 earthquake, which caused more casualties here.

I sometimes feel as if I am walking underwater with all this, definitely a stress reaction. My sleep-cycle is off pretty much since the pandemic began and my body is paying for it, big-time. I expect I am not alone.

Friends have been reporting aches and pains, even feeling like they will get Covid. We are in a time that “tries men’s souls,” big-time. It may leave a scar on everyone who experiences this.This pandemic has destroyed lives, and it need not—because of the neglect and idiocy of our President—have been.

And now we face an election with consequences that are literally the life or death of our democracy. Over four years, this administration has shown itself to be evil, run by one of the most evil idiots imaginable. I can’t think of a worst President, now or in the future.

I believe Biden will win. I can’t NOT believe that. But this is a frightening time. I am taking inspiration from my parents and their generation, who lived through the World Wars, faced rationing and sending sons and husbands off to war. This took bravery, and true Americans (those who do not support Trump) are brave and resilient. I believe we will overcome the enemy on every level.

And so it is.