I must apologize for being MIA most of January.
When I first got back from Chicago at the top of the year, I either had a very bad cold or the flu.
While I was still recovering from being sick, the Los Angeles fires hit.
The first week was very intense. I live in Encino.
The hurricane like winds started Tuesday, January 7th along with the Pacific Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.
Watching on the news how fast both fires spread was like watching a horror movie. Seeing people on Sunset Blvd in the Palisades abandoning their cars because the blaze was coming so fast and then later seeing bulldozers pushing those cars aside so that fire trucks could get through was just unreal.
I spent most of my time checking with friends that live in those areas if they had evacuated or were they going to evacuate soon?
The following day, Wednesday, January 8th, the winds were still intense. I checked outside and found many pieces of roofing material on the ground.
The fires continued. And what you most likely didn’t see on national news, fire after fire kept popping up. The Woodley Fire was down the street from me. Another one to the north the Hurst Fire and then another one to west the Kenneth Fire.
I’m located where the blue dot is and this was taken on the 8th before the fires spread more drastically.
So we got our “go bags” packed which included important documents. Loaded up the car with precious photos. Packed a luggage to last for about a week.
Like one of my facebook friends said, when you’re packing in these circumstances, you pack like a toddler who is trying to run away from home. You grab any and everything randomly because you just don’t know.
The Palisades Fire burned 23,448 acres
and the Eaton Fire burned 12,021 acres.
Those combined numbers are larger than the city of San Francisco. Wrap your head around that.
The Eaton Fire is where Altadena is located and it’s a historically Black community.
Please take a look at this article from The Guardian on it’s history.
By Thursday, January 9th, more fires were popping up. There was one in the Hollywood Hills another in Studio City. Not too mention many of my friends had been without power for DAYS. So, quite a few of my friends took off and went out of town because it was just too nerve wrecking and to not have power on top of it was just too much.
Friday, January 10th, the Palisades Fire approached Encino Hills.
When I saw that the fire was looming in the distance, it wasn’t distant enough. I was like, let’s get out of here. We didn’t have an official evacuation warning. All of the evacuations were for the south side of Ventura Blvd. I live on the north side of Ventura Blvd, but in walking distance of the boulevard.
And when I saw all of the fire trucks and medical vehicles lined up on Ventura Blvd, I didn’t want to stick around and be in a traffic jam if things made a turn for the worst.
We didn’t stay gone for long. The wonderful fire department put down fire retardant on the hill and it stopped the fire from proceeding down the hill, thank God!
Needless to say, Saturday and Sunday, I had a grief crash. I was listless and slept most of the weekend just trying to emotionally recover from everything. We’ve been completely on edge. Not to mention the false evacuation warnings that were popping up county wide, were keeping us on our toes as if we needed anything else to push us to the brink.
Every siren I heard was a trigger. Is that another fire?
I am so grateful that all of my friends and loved ones are safe but grieving that so many people and people I know have lost their homes. It’s truly devastating.
So, Monday, January 13th comes and we were under a Santa Ana wind warning for most of the week. And on January 15th, I watched a webinar from the Coalition For Clean Air.
Not going to lie. The webinar fully freaked me out about the toxins in the air because of all of the structures and electrical equipment that was burned into ash. The ash is toxic. So I pray that many people have either seen the webinar or other alerts about wearing masks and protective gear especially if you are in the burn areas. But ash travels and hopefully our recent rains have taken those toxins out of the air.
Again, I had to lie down after watching the webinar.
Some more smaller fires popped up but were contained pretty quickly and the weekend came. But of course on Monday, January 20th, we have a new president.
One that I definitely did not vote for. I kept my TV on meditation music on YouTube and pretty much am still doing that, though I had a setback when I watched his press conference on the horrible plane and helicopter crash. Him blaming DEI sent me reeling. Now I’m back to meditation music or having comedies on in the background.
I’m not ignoring all the things that he’s rolling back, but I’m also trying to keep my peace at the same time. Many of us tried to tell the people what was coming and here we are.
Try not to let all of the announcements cripple you. His moves are calculated to cause chaos and fear.
Take in what you can every couple or few days or so from a trusted news source. If there are action steps you can do personally, like calling your senator or congressperson, do so.
So, going forward with my Substack, I’ve been toying around a few ideas of what to do for this year.
The reason why I started Substack was because I realized how many fascinating untold stories of marginalized people in the US had not been told. One in particular, Peter Crosby, the first Black sheriff in Vicksburg, Mississippi. His election led to the Vicksburg Massacre.
Peter’s story really grabbed my heart. So much so that I wanted to write a novel about him and as I dug deeper and deeper and learned about other Black elected officials in the Reconstruction Era, I wanted to write a series of novels.
What I’m considering doing for this year is walk you through the process of me developing and writing the first novel of the series. This would include bios of the people I will be writing about. Discussing books that I’ve read about them. Sharing excerpts from the congressional hearings. Showing how I go about my writing process, going over some of my favorite books on writing and for paid subscribers chapters to read. And if people want to learn more about crafting story or working on their own story, I can offer things of that nature for paid subscribers.
Most of you know, besides being a television producer, I’m a produced television writer and have been hired to write feature films. I have written a novel under a pen name but I’ve never written a historical fiction novel. So with this, you’ll see my ups and downs. My hurdles, any mistakes, and hopefully some great wins through the process. Let me know if something like this interests you.
I will also continue to compare what happened in the past to what is happening now, but hopefully not in a triggering way. I must protect my mindset and peace during these trying times. And I hope you are doing the same.
Here are some tips from Robert Reich as this new administration begins.
Hopefully these tips will help. What things are you doing to keep peace of mind during this new administration?
January was so tumultuous. I’m declaring February 1st as the beginning of my new year. Starting anew, hopefully refreshed and staying grounded in the midst of the storm.
Best,
Danita
The tips were SUPER helpful! Thank you for sharing!
Danita, it's all too much. I was in CA the week of the fires, but was 2 hours south so was far from danger but still was so triggered - I can't even imagine how you could ever get your nerves to calm down after what you've all been through out there. And then, yes, the new President has sent more people into panic attacks and therapy than I can count. It's a lot for all of us to get through right now. Happy we have each other. Sending huge hugs, and yes 100% with you on your upcoming stories!