01.20.25

This week I’ve been riveted to the news of the fires in and around Los Angeles, a landscape that has become familiar to be in the past several years, and where there are many students, faculty, and friends I worry for. 

But first, something more cheerful.

1.09.25
Headline: Firefighters Rush to Take Control of L.A. Wildfires as Winds Slow
Photo: Loren Elliott
About this photo: In Malibu, California, what remained: a lone spiral staircase, which I imagine before this week was in a grand beach-front house, Bette Davis (or the present-day equivalent) descending for a bash in her sunken living room in something slinky. It's as if the fire storm lays bare some truths about who we are. Loss is loss, grief, grief; is there a calculus for measuring the grief of the rich versus the grief of the poor? What's left: a spiral stair connecting nothing to nothing.

1.08.25
Headline:New Wildfires Ravage L.A. as Biggest Blazes Burn Unchecked
Photo: Zoe Myers
About this photo: In Malibu, California, the remains of what was likely a garden included statues of the Buddha. The fires swarming around, as he sat unmoving and unmoved. This morning I mediated for a few minutes (seconds! It was probably like ten seconds) to try and calm my restless mind.