I’m alright…although the rich people aren’t. No doubt many of you have been following the news that started as an unnoticeable little developing story in the Los Angeles Times early Sunday morning. What has ensued over the past three days has now developed into the major national news story. Yep, much of Southern California is on fire. For those of you who may not be quite familiar with the California geography (which certainly described me until 3 years ago), the state is essentially a gigantic mountainous untamed grassland, punctuated here and there with small little towns likes Running Springs, Castaic, and Los Angeles.

Right now, they’re saying that they hope all these fires will be contained by Thursday now that these winds are finally starting to calm down a bit. In the mean time, none of the fires actually threaten the city of Los Angeles (the Malibu fire on Sunday was probably the closest). In fact, the Griffith Park fire we experienced just a few months ago was significantly more scary as Griffith Park is less than 10 miles from where I live.

The one really weird part of this whole thing was this. In the hallway right outside my classroom door, there’s a gigantic window that lets in sunlight, however today at about 9:30am, I walked out into the hallway only to be greeted by a tone of sunlight that is usually reserved for much later in the day (4-6pm). As I walked outside the building, the sky is actually covered in smoke and haze. While the situation is certainly not as pronounced as in the picture above, I can definitely define the difference in color between the “clear” blue sky and the layer of smoke and haze above it. Regardless, I’m hoping that Los Angeles’ major news stories in the upcoming months will not be such serious things (fires, floods, and gangs “oh my”), but will return to the normality of Los Angeles news :)

In the meantime, enjoy the song “Los Angeles is Burning” (actually written in 2004):

Somewhere high in the desert,
Near a curtain of blue,
St Anne’s skirts are billowing
But down here in the city of limelight,
The fans of Santa Ana are withering
And you can’t deny the living is easy
If you never look behind the scenery
It’s show time for dry climes
Bedlam is dreaming of rainWhen the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burningThis is not a test
Of the emergency broadcast system
When Malibu fires and radio towers
Conspire to dance again
And I cannot believe the Meda Mecca
They’re only trying to peddle reality
Catch it on Prime Time
Story at nine
The whole world is going insane

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning

A placard reads “the end of days”
Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze
More a question than a curse
How could hell be any worse?
The flames are stunning
The cameras running
So take warning!

When the hills of Los Angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And Los Angeles is burning