Relative Safety

The email I got on Monday morning came as a relief. My younger brother sent a note to let us all know that he was okay. He lives in the North Bay, not to be confused with the South or East Bay. Nobody talks about the West Bay, since that's San Francisco. Actually, there are plenty of people who talk about San Francisco, they just don't refer to it as "The West Bay." And San Francisco is not currently on fire.
That distinction belongs, currently, to the North Bay, where seven different fires have consumed countless acres and dozens of buildings. Evacuations have taken place in places like Calistoga, Sonoma, and Santa Rosa. It would seem that the West Coast, not the West Bay necessarily, felt left out of the current wave of disaster that seems to be plaguing our nation. While not as easy to spot on satellites or track with radar, fires can be predicted with some measure of accuracy and if you live in California long enough you know that fire season and hurricane season seem to run concurrently. It is the price we pay for living where the sun drops into the ocean each night much in the same way that living on the right hand side of the country means you have to understand "storm surge."
Once you leave the Bay Area, you travel down the coast to find that the planet we lovingly refer to as SoCal is also in flames. Orange County, home to Mickey and Goofy, is also peering up at a smoke-filled sky. Evacuations and advisories exist everywhere around the happiest place on earth.
Meanwhile, Californians wonder when the "President" will fly out here and toss paper towels at us. None of us are currently holding our collective breath, except those who are trying to get around without succumbing to smoke inhalation. For many, this is what we of the People's Republic of California deserve. We brought this on ourselves. For being blue. For taking a knee. For being a sanctuary. For protesting and kicking up a fuss when "everyone else" seems to be just fine with the way America is being made Great Again.
I am grieving the loss of life and a disaster just up the road from where I live, and I am glad that my younger brother is okay. The rest of this will have to be worked out while the seasons turn.