Manic Monday

Insanity. That's the only way to describe it. It was only four hours and fifty minutes into the first red-flag day of the fire season before 80mph+ winds started ripping trees out of the ground and toppling telephone poles, triggering over a dozen fires. And of course, sick-minded arsonists had to start a couple more of their own for shits and giggles, but I'm not laughing. Granted, fires in Southern California really are not the biggest tragedy ever; loss of one's home is never fun to experience (says my roommate), and I'm glad I haven't had to go through it.

But for people across the rest of the country, us Southern Californians are as familiar with fire preparation as Midwesterners are with Tornado preparation. Since there really is no way to have control of the situation, you just have to keep a resilient attitude and be prepared when an event like this occurs. Rather than panic, worry, and waste energy on reflecting on the damage and carnage that these fires can wreak on property, valuables, and landmarks, it's a much better course of action to reflect on the amazing phenomena that these fires are. What was it like 200 years ago when there's no way fires of this magnitude could be contained? What about 2,000 years ago when natural fires may have burned for months? I suppose the best way to look at this is the cyclical way in which nature works. Out of the death of trees and brush, nutrients are passed through the ash back into the ground and so new vegetation can grow. Us humans are really just in the way of nature taking its course.

This is why it is smart to have Fire Insurance, people! If you don't have it, get it! If you rent, that's what renter's insurance is for! If you have these things and keep your most crucial documnets/posessions in a place that you can easily access in case of a need to evacuate, then you'll never lose more than a few replacable outfits and superfluous posessions. If you are that attached to your things, read the Bible and seek some self-actualization, because it's really not all that important. Just be sure to remember your photos and other memories before you take off!

All jokes aside, though, these fires are the once-a-decade kind of thing that leave an imprint for at least a few years. They can be scary, much can be lost, but let's remember that there are many other natural disasters with death tolls higher than the one life lost in the last forty-eight hours here in So-Cal. So cease with the apocalyptic attitudes, enjoy what you've got while you've got it, and let's remember, as soon as these Santa Ana's die down....it's still in the 70's at the beaches!!!