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I've been watching images of all of Southern California being consumed by flames. It's not often there's anything on TV news to attract my attention. None of the places I used to live are in any danger, nor are they ever likely to be. They have long since been isolated from the most flammable regions by miles and miles of development. At one time those neighborhoods used to burn, but it was before they were neighborhoods. When they were open grassland with a few oaks here and there they probably had the occasional fire, but it's been ages since such things happened there.
But many of the places into which the population has moved in recent decades were always prone to fires, and their current straits unsurprising to anyone familiar with the region. I do recall passing through some of the places which are now engulfed, back when they were empty, and miles from any development. When I was kid it never occurred to me that houses and stores and all the various constructions of modern civilization would one day (and so soon) cover so many fields and hillsides such distances from the city. It's very strange to watch this stuff all going on on television, especially when my memories of these locations are of a wild vacancy to which they are apt to return now, if only temporarily.
Of course I might yet get to see a big fire up close this year. The high pressure system that produces the hot, dry winds is shifting northward and we might soon be getting those winds here. This place is certainly as dry and apt to burn as any part of Southern California. Hey, I might see myself on television—if I still have one to watch!
But many of the places into which the population has moved in recent decades were always prone to fires, and their current straits unsurprising to anyone familiar with the region. I do recall passing through some of the places which are now engulfed, back when they were empty, and miles from any development. When I was kid it never occurred to me that houses and stores and all the various constructions of modern civilization would one day (and so soon) cover so many fields and hillsides such distances from the city. It's very strange to watch this stuff all going on on television, especially when my memories of these locations are of a wild vacancy to which they are apt to return now, if only temporarily.
Of course I might yet get to see a big fire up close this year. The high pressure system that produces the hot, dry winds is shifting northward and we might soon be getting those winds here. This place is certainly as dry and apt to burn as any part of Southern California. Hey, I might see myself on television—if I still have one to watch!
