As of 8pm CST
At this hour there are 6 wildfires blazing in Southern California. Some areas of the Los Angeles "suburbs" have been overrun with devastation. There have even been Hollywood personalities that have lost their homes. I know to some people that sounds "so sad" when I've heard sarcasm in their voices as some of those properties were worth millions of dollars. Still, I am truly saddened to see this stuff happening again. It seems to be a way of life in the southwest. It's like Chicago in the winter. You know how bad it can become in terms of cold and snow; yet, we choose to live here. No place on earth can be perfect ALL of the time weather-wise. We all have something to be concerned about. The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico coasts including cities along the US southern border states always have a "season" for bad weather -- hurricanes and tropical storms particularly. However, I know many people who simply choose to move there, believing it's simply unlikely to do severe damage to anything that is theirs. Yet, I know a cousin who has seen part of the beach-front property she owns have as much damage as the next person. Yet, it seems to her to be just part of the life in that neck of the woods.
Just pray, my friends, for the safety of all in harm's way. Thanks.
The other "major" piece for the day is that today Former President Jimmy Carter was laid to rest. Some people can't wrap their heads around why I would bring something like this up in a blog, but the man -- while navigating through seemingly crisis after crisis during his White House years -- was a simply good human being! After his presidency, he and his late wife, Rosalind, did so much work in trying to make better lives for the disadvantaged and oppressed. He made it to his 100th birthday back in October.
I particularly remember the two major events of Carter's term in office -- the Three-Mile Island nuclear accident and the Camp David Accords that resulted in ending the WAR between Israel and Egypt. It still sounds so biblical. Like, don't you think that Egypt might have figured "this didn't work 5000 years ago, maybe we should just let it go." Of course that is tongue and cheek. It made a huge difference in the world. Yet, countries will always find a way to want more and that has led to war quite often.
Peace.
It is so hard to see these types of disasters get increasingly worse as our climate changes, and breaks my heart. I had family affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year, and they are still recovering. I loved Lahaina and Jasper, sad to see them both burn. I was lucky enough to spend a week at UCLA for work and was amazed at the size of LA area - it seemed so much bigger than Chicago and so many highways. Praying for all. Even though many of the people affected are wealthy, as always these things impact the poor. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/wildfires-disproportionately-impact-latino-and-other-underserved-la-communities-data-shows . I see that where my family lives in Florida, both of the trailer parks on Anna Maria Island were damaged enough that they were condemned, so those folks lost their homes and wealthy developers bought the land.
ReplyDeleteI contacted a friend - former coworker - who lives in the LA area last Friday, and as of that time, he was still ok. He said the fires got close to his home, but thankfully the winds started blowing the other way before his home was damaged. Its still so very scary.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me the most about Jimmy Carter was that he really believed in using his position to help others. And did so much more after his presidency to improve the lives of people, more than during his presidency, since he only served 1 term. It has made me very cynical toward politicians today who seem to be in politics not to make the world a better place but for the power, prestige and money they can get from their position.