This is not a time to bury the lead. Myself and my octogenarian roommates (Mother and Cat) are all safe. We are not currently in harms way. The bags are still packed and near the front door.
I have not lived in The San Fernando Valley for over 30 years…until six months ago. I moved from Santa Monica to help my mom in Encino. The fact that I moved from a place that was less than two miles from evacuation orders to another city that was only three blocks from evacuation orders is something I can’t truly process. Encino has already had its fifteen minutes of fame when Frank and Moon Zappa’s 1983’s song “Valley Girl” shot up the charts. Fer’ shure we did not need any more attention. But there was our city’s name on the news in a split screen horror show, showing people leaving their homes in the hills while the firefighters kept the flames from coming down into The Valley.
By the time I submit this I hope the winds will not be a factor and the fires will be more contained. Right now, the two biggest fires are not even 50% contained. The one that is closest to me is only at 18%. As I was eating dinner another small fire popped up on the Watch Duty app.
My articles have rarely held to any of the tenets of journalism; they are creative nonfiction and that is my jam. However, right now there is so much fiction being spread; swirling garbage is financial gold for a news cycl
