Last week while in Tampa Bay some people ask me how bad things were back home in the LA area with the fires. At the time I had not seen the news so I responded nonchalantly, "Fires during the Santa Ana winds in LA are like hurricanes on the coast of Florida. They are bad if they hit your home otherwise most people are almost unaware."My apologies. This year is worse. Hundreds of homes lost and the fires are spread across amazingly diverse neighborhoods.
However, there is reality to what I originally said. Looking back over the most recent catastrophes of 2008 we see this. Not one but perhaps hundreds (of lesser tremors) hit central China. To the outsiders it seems only one quake hit and that was in Chengdu. Nothing could be further from the truth. The quake damage was in several provinces and many hit over months. While those hit most severely are still suffering greatly, the larger population continues life as normal.
Typhoons in the Pacific Rim are a routine of nature. They are often followed by flooding and mud slides on the hillsides illegally harvested of timber. People die. Homes are destroyed. But the larger communities take it in stride and move on.
Fires in Los Angeles are part of our eco-culture. We have a long dry summer. Normal. We also have a 12 month growing season. One friend told me regarding landscaping in Southern California, at first you fight to get plants and trees to grow. THEN you spend the rest of the time just fighting them. Everything grows. Sun and underground sprinkler systems are a pretty effective combination. No winter dormant season here.
So~ long dry summers. Brush growing on the hillsides. Then the Santa Ana winds hit blowing the dry wind at high speeds. Strike a match and suddenly the hills are ablaze and not with the sound of music. Just a bad combination of factors.
When one's house is destroyed it is a true catastrophe. Few can really afford to fully insure their homes. Too expensive. The law of averages dictates fires will probably not touch your home. Take the risk.
What must make the loss of your home and everything you've worked a lifetime for and were counting on for retirement even worse is that most of those around you move on without missing a beat. Ouch.
Adding to the hurt in Southern California is our relative wealth. Unlike Katrina and mud slides in poor countries, few feel too sorry. Truth be told. How do you find pity for people living in million dollar homes?
Here you are possibly waiting for me to pull together some principles or moral lessons. I'm trying but all I have today are some realities observed.
I do know life is not fair. Learned that as a child. I do know bad things happen to good people and some pretty bad people seem to escape unscathed.
I also believe it probably does not hurt for us to reflect upon a old question. "Who is my neighbor?" The answer offered originally was, "If someone in my scope of awareness has a need...regardless of the reason for it...and I have the ability to help. I should."
