Swede and I are putting together a new program- this time we are making a film, with live music, and dance performance. I was inspired to get some footage of the fires in San Diego, as the smoke and fire would create a powerful impact in this environmental tribute. So, last Thursday, we just got in the car and drove into the sunset in search of the San Diego Fires.
We arrived in San Diego and didn't notice anything unusual. Michael Savage was on the AM radio crying about how tragic the fires were. I noticed that news reporters and radio DJs had been personally affected by the fires. This was not an attack upon the weak and poor. Mother nature walked right up to the celebrities who had paid good money to build their houses in the areas most abundant with nature. As if their encroachment on nature didn't have anything at all to do with the fact that their houses were threatened by fire, Michael tirelessly blamed environmentalists, claiming it's their fault there was a fire because they had preserved the natural habitat and no one was allowed to trim it down.
He whined about the fact that his property line was hedged in by kindling.
What a brat. There are consequences to be paid for building a permanent structure in the midst of nature. That's why Indians used tee pees. One of their proverbs is to move your tee pee often, to let the sun hit the earth.
I suppose that as a result of using such versatile housing, this would also enable them to move if there were any danger encroaching upon them. That seems smart. And here we are, technologically advanced, and people like Michael Savage think they are the most intelligent people on earth. Doesn't seem very smart to me to build a house on a pile of kindling.
We finally stopped for the night to sleep on the beach in Carlsbad. No sign of fire or people evacuating anywhere. In the morning, we stopped at a Starbucks and ran into a fireman there. He wasn't sure where the fire was, and didn't know what roads would be closed. Well, we just kind of drove around, chasing a ghost it seemed. Couldn't find any fire to save our lives. I thought San Diego was on fire. I mean, that's certainly what it sounded like on the news.
Well, finally, on the outskirts of town, heading into the mountains and wilderness, there were road closures. We couldn't go any farther. We happened upon a couple of spots where trees had been destroyed and a small piece of property that had been burned to the ground. We shot our video footage, we got what we came for, but it wasn't what we expected. In the light of what was happening, we exceeded our expectations. It was a beautiful morning and the police officers at the road block were brilliantly funny.
We needed to get back to Phoenix so that Swede wouldn't miss his performance that Friday evening. We didn't really know where we were going, were just sort of following the signs. Everything was so zen that morning, the video shooting was perfect, the locations that we wound up in- aaaahhhh, it never gets better than that, when it feels like you have a spiritual tour guide leading you to all the right places at all the right times.
And then, there it was, the sign above. There were tents and firetrucks everywhere. We found their base camp. Firemen from all over California were here. There was festive music playing over a PA system. Firemen were hosing down their trucks, making repairs, and just hanging out, having a good time.
No one ever complains about firemen; no one ever makes nasty accusations towards them the way they do cops. They love their jobs, the brotherhood, the camaraderie, and people love them.
And so, were it not for the mass communications efforts of the media to create this image of tragedy in San Diego, I don't know that as many people would truly have been affected by it. I heard a lot of callers on the radio saying huge "Thanks yous" for all of the support, and DJs saying things like, "We give, that's what we do in San Diego, we give." A lot of California vs. the rest of the world kind of propaganda. That Nationalistic divide and conquer propaganda the fires up every time there is a disaster.
What was happening in the real world, though, seemed so different from what was happening on the radio and newspapers. It was a beautiful day for a forest fire, and the firemen where joyously assembling.
14 comments:
You certainly had an interesting trip. Most of the fires were gone or contained by the time you came around.
I find this interesting because at least from the music therapy world... I was receiving messages about several music therapists loosing their houses and asking for help or advice. So where were the fires. Hmm...
It also makes me wonder now too. I thought it was fairly serious because of the fact that LA was mersed in smoke and ash for about a week up to that weekend when a new wind front came through. All of that smoke and ash had to come from somewhere....
And I have learned since my three months I was in London to be wary of USA media. And count more on first hand knowledge than the ones filtered through radio, newspapers. Just outside of the US there is a whole "new" world of perspectives. Many times I was like the US has it wrong according to the news of London. The example I am using here is the London bombings. The second was an attempted bombing not an actual bombing. And here two hours later I was talking to my uncle who was arguing with me that it was an actual bombing. And I was like no, no bombs went off. And because of this I will not even attempt to go into different accounts of a story of the "terrorists" of Iraq. I am not sure what is "real" and what is not anymore.
RK, I think in Mexico they let small natural fires take their vegetation, keep it minimal. You're right, it's the human desire to keep the flora big and lush, unnaturally, that provides the fuel for this natural phenomenon. Why can people get insurance who build in flood planes, mud slide areas, and hurricane alleys and fire alleys?
I just posted on Rumi, and one of the things he said was, "Be a clear and rational lunatic."
Yes, Ingrid. I was aware that there was definitely fire somewhere- and it is true, we just happened to be there too late to see it. Although, I was expecting to see a lot of fire damage and didn't encounter any unless I was outside of San Diego in the more rural areas. You know, areas that cost mucho dinero to live in.
I have to wonder about that... it seems they make a big deal out of things when it affects the wealthy and things that affect the poor get swept under the rug. But the smoke was real.
Yes, I am wanting to get out of the USA and see the world again. AM radio is as close as I can get to a second opinion, but sometimes those people are so radical, they don't make any sense either!
Aunt Ruth, I love Rumi. I don't know about insurance. I don't have it and never had. If we were more like the Amish, we wouldn't need it. When disaster strikes their community, they all get together and work hard to fix it! I just saw a documentary on them that was amazing- there is so much about them I didn't know!
You had a good experience in your own way, RK. I think attitude has so much to do with how we see things!
Indeed it does- it's the secret:D
Ra Chel, The Americas were virgin lands. i still don't understand the absence of natural predators in north America, like in the Amazon, most of which is damaged now, 40% of world oxygen used to come from there. i wonder if natural predators have gone extinct in North America. Please find out and tell me about this Ra Chel. The absence of natural predators encourage people to encroach the forest lands. And the population of deer and elks grow out of proportions resulting in further damage to the vegetation, and they cause hundreds of highway accidents. Forest fires are necessary for regeneration. They are natural occurances. This fire perhaps was an accident.
Artificial forests created by the environmentalists are more dangerous actually. The whole thing is a bit confusing to me. i am getting a feeling that the entire north America is no longer natural and wild. It sounds like well or partially manicured garden. Please correct me Ra Chel.
I think there used to be mountain lions, but I don't know what happened to them. This is a good point, rauf, I never thought about it. I'll ask Don, he knows a lot about this kind of thing.
There are still some extremely beautiful forests left in the mountains. But, for instance, this summer, Swede and I were going to take the kids hiking into the mountains and camp out there for a few days. But, this was an extremely dry summer, and the Bears were very hungry, so just a day before we arrived, this one Bear came into a campground and stuck his head into a tent. The man inside punched the bear. The bear punched the man. The man punched the bear, and the bear left. This is actually very comical to imagine. But, not so comical is the fact that this bear came back to a different campground the next day and dragged a little kid out of a tent and ate him in front of the parents.
So, we decided not to take the kids into the woods.
There are bears still:D Mountain lions kill people in California sometimes. Swede says Moose are dangerous. There are poisonous snakes.
If you do not mind, I will add to the comments regarding what Rauf is asking.
Mountain lions are generally less populated but yes, the ones that are around their habitats are taken over by people's homes. They come into the neighborhoods and usually the result is shooting them since tranquizilizing them does not work as they seem to know how to return.
Bears are always abundant it seems and yes, are typically known to be more agressive than ever before.
Wolves are endangered, period. The Americas (US) used to be where wolves roamed from Washington all the way down to the Mexican Boarder. But their original space included all of the Canadas down into Mexico. (Watch the movie Never Cry Wolf...it is also a book by the same title, Canadian writer: Farley Mowat). There are many programs trying to support the come back (breeding programs) but is difficult just because the wolves end up killing farm animals and the farmers become upset and kill them. They are not supposed to kill them. This is an issue in Montana, Wyoming area.
The bald eagle and California Condor are two other examples. the Bald Eagle is making a comeback due to the active breeding programs. The Condor is struggling. At about the year 1991 there were on record only THREE wild Condors left. Basically they are all in captive breeding programs.
The list goes on and on.
The forests. I just laugh at the foresters talking about deforestation and regrowth. From where I came from (Washington State), timber lands are all there is basically. They chop down the forests and plant evergreen trees (Spruce, I think is a big one) pine is typical. They say they are replenishing what they chop down but it is not the truth. They only plant these evergreen trees that make money so in about 20-30 years they can deforest the land again. And do not seem to realize that the forests need a wide range of the variety of plants, trees, and other abundant growth for all of the different speices of animals that need to thrieve. If there is not a specific kind of plant or tree (oak) that is replanted. The species have to leave and the ecosystem is unbalanced.
And Washington State is home of the great old growth trees/forests. Because of stupid laws being written over by the Bush administration, they have allowed many, many acres of these extremely valuable ecosystems become timber. I have been onsite to many of the places where these old growth forests existed. It is an utter shame. The smells reaking horrible of the bloodlines of the now dead trees. There is an endangered speices of bird that is disappearing fast. I forget the name... but is the only known bird that is a shore/ocean bird that goes inland to these old growth forests to nest (the only time they come to land). If the forests are gone, no nests, no birds. Similar situation with the spotted owl.
I think the only good news is that there are people (biologists and other natural resource scientists) who are working very, very hard to put a stop to these atrocities of the natural world. I know, my parents are two in the thousands of scientists that exist today.
Lost my comment, shucks!
How sad what Gypsy wrote, yes. I came back to say something like the same thing, about bears, wolves and pumas being the natural predators. But they were almost annihilated by the settlers to protect their lands. I talked with Don, my historian/social studies husband. rauf has posted and talked many times about this truth that forests can't just be planted. Forests are rich with teaming life that takes time to develop naturally. How stupid to think we can plant trees and recreate that. I'll let him say more. The human tendency to sink to the lowest denominator is probably what breaks my heart more than anything in this life.
Yes, Ruth, it is probably one of the most saddest things I have come to see about the human race.... the destruction of the forests. I really do believe forests are one of the top all important ecosystems on this planet... without them we are not going to survive.
That's why I found it so horrid about the deforestation of many of the old growth trees in WA. There are rights protecting the forests but people take shortcuts and not enough people are standing up. There are trees that are over 500 years old. That's a long time with the environment rich full of biodiversity that have acculumatled over the hundreds of years. And then just in a matter of days, it is all gone. We cannot ever replace it back to that 500 year mark.
Maybe, Ruth, you should do a post on deforestation on your huffing blog. I can go on and on with this subject. I am pretty passionate about the topics of deforestation, salmon (which goes hand in hand with the deforestation), and wolves.
I love you guys! Thanks so much for the rich conversation:D I have to believe that after all the forests are gone and the earth has run it's course, that we will still be communicating with each other and thriving- the trees, too:D
I have a friend, Lora, who is always reminding me, "What if it's supposed to be this way?"
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