The fires came by Sue Robin

On the 7^th of January the fires came. They leveled 18,000 homes and destroyed 27,000 acres of land. Angelenos gasped from the smoke and shock.

Then the rains came, and left mud and boulders strewn across too many roads. Months of detours will force many to drive hundreds of extra miles for work and play. We think Mother Nature a power to be reckoned with as she sends death and devastation to communities here and there, but nothing can hold a candle to what lies in the wake of Musk and Trump as they attempt to take over our country – or is it the world? Trump, who claimed to not know about Project 2025, has, with it as a playbook, upended our government and the world in a matter of weeks.

I wrote my book, A Modicum of Solace, in response to Trump’s first term but with just a few changed names, it could have been written today. 2025 feels like 2017 on steroids, filled with more hate, demeaning behavior, and overreaching power grabs.

This week the windows have all been wide open. I wake to the bird song and fall asleep to the hooting owls. My sandals are getting some wintertime use with the eighty-degree weather, but the warmth of the sun does nothing to take the chill away from the USA voting with Russia and North Korea at the UN, or the demise of USAID, or the insults and crass behaviors of the president and his cohorts. (I first typed “our president,” but I cannot say that. He is NOT my president!)

In my grief and shock, I have been, at least initially, frozen, unable to act, not knowing what action to take. As I slowly thaw and find my footing in the slush and muck of today, I have begun to create a new path. I have had to realize that I will not be comfortable and at peace under this president, but that I must keep putting one foot in front of the other or one phone call after the other. Gentle conversations with like-minded friends and acquaintances help support us. We pass on info about who to call, what app to check out, and what boycott is coming up. We nurture and commiserate with one another.

There are posts and podcasts and discussions where the politically savvy think that Trump’s intentions are for a full-on dictatorship and others who don’t disagree with that but (more hopefully?) think this will all backfire on him and justice will prevail. Personally, I think he has already done so much damage, like the wildfires here in Los Angeles, that it will take years to clean up the toxic mess and rebuild.

May our country and Los Angeles rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.