“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” ~ Isaiah 54:10
Once my husband & I were in Lucerne, Switzerland when a huge hurricane was heading toward the east coast in the US. For some reason, we couldn’t take our eyes off the coverage, hoping that people would somehow be safe. We were glued to CNN, watched all the build up, then when it actually hit – you know when reporters practically turn sideways in the wind to tell us all how windy it is – and then of course the aftermath. It was the wrong time zone to be awake, but we couldn’t stop watching.
Another time, in February of 2020 we were in Paris for an extended stay – and we watched and listened as something new called “Covid-19” started rolling across Asia and into Europe.
CNN, as aired in Paris, France, February 21, 2020
When Covid first came to Italy, the world cheered and cried at the love and resilience of the Italians as they applauded medical professionals each day at a certain time (literally leaning out of their apartment windows to clap and bang pots & pans in thankfulness) and as seen in many widely viewed videos, opera singers and classical musicians serenaded those in their neighborhoods with beautiful music and song. We knew the official lock-down in Paris was coming at the beginning of March, with Macron begging Parisians to give up their picnics by the Seine and stay indoors for the good of public safety! It was a slow build into what we now know with hindsight was a major global catastrophe. And it was unique watching the way one’s country responded to the emerging crisis, and to see first-hand and up-close how another country responded to the same crisis.
President Macron Announces Covid Restrictions, Paris, March 16, 2020
Eventually folks in Paris were allowed out with a note stating what time and day it was and how far they were going from their home to jog, exercise, etc. It was kind of like getting a “hall pass” in school. I remember watching the news from our home country about toilet paper shortages and empty shelves in the stores. But the most unsettling news came from our elected leader at the time – an “order” for all American’s to return home by the “end of the week”. Our phone started alerting us with all the text messages from friends and family – when are you coming home?! We hadn’t even woken up yet local time. Yeesh. the leader, of course, had to backtrack on that one – as it was clearly an impossibility for all Americans to return home from various parts of the world in a matter of days. Be that as it may, American’s spent thousands of dollars on last minute flights back to the U.S. It took us about four changes (cancellations, etc.) and a couple of weeks to return to L.A. ourselves to comply. The airlines were a mess from the announcement – and the logics of trying to route all incoming air-traffic to a select number of U.S. airports…I wish we would have stayed put, but with the uncertainty in the moments, we didn’t know how everything was going to turn out.
A simple home-made Tuesday evening meal, in a tiny, but lovely breakfast nook in NW Pasadena….February 7, 2025
On January 7th, this year, well, last month (!) my hubby and I had just settled into our breakfast nook for a dinner of home-made tomato soup, parma-toast on home-made bread and a little wedge salad made with turkey (not pork) bacon.
Oh, and a great glass of burgundy. We knew there was a wind-storm coming, the predictions were that the Santa Ana’s would be significant. We had battened down the ‘hatches’ of our home and yard – and were eating dinner in our breakfast nook because the dining room table was covered with our homes Christmas decorations, ready to be put away once we brought in the storage boxes from the garage. Well, it’s February 18th as I write this and those decorations are still on our dining room table. At least I still have a dining room table. And a dining room. We knew the jig was up when after a particularly loud gust, my husband took a moment to look out our front door. The call for me to join him in the observation was urgent, the tone which only manifests itself when something immediate and serious was being communicated. This is what we saw.
The Fire Comes…
We were packed and headed out in under an hour.
Our doggie Rosie was first importance, then important business and personal papers. My jewelry box (in total) made it into the car, a treasured hand-woven blanked from Iona…the art would have to stay on the walls, but there were a few baby-books of the kids that had been out..a couple of instruments from Ireland..and – let’s head to families house that is in the southern part of Pasadena, away from the hills of Altadena where the danger was emitting from. And farther away from where the fire took the family home of our son-in-law, and the back-house of our son-in-law’s dad – him with his 3,000+ vinyl collection.
What was left of our kids family home in Altadena…
But Charlie, their doggie, and they themselves all made it to Grandma’s house to join us and our other daughter and son-in-law, who also live in NW Pasadena like us. We stayed there and were glued to social media and the news together. Around 4 o’clock in the morning on the 8th, our kids realized their house was most probably gone. Disbelief. We stayed there another day, but decided to head south again to another family in Lake Elsinore that had more space for all of us and our pets. We stayed there another five days before venturing back up to Dena.
Feeding 8 on a Dime, Lake Elsinore, January 13, 2025
We got lucky with a nice dog-friendly hotel (more on that later), our younger daughter and her husband felt comfortable enough to venture back into their condo and begin cleaning and purifying the air. That son-in-law had begun to buy cleaning tools on Amazon even while we were displaced into Riverside County. Our older kids took a kind offer for temporary housing rom a church in Burbank, where there was room for my son-in-law’s dad to come back with them, and Charlie was also welcome. They were there for over four weeks, navigating the 4 o’clock daily meetings with local, county and FEMA officials, trying to wrap their head around what insurance policies do and don’t cover, how long it will take to rebuild, how their mortgage will get paid whilst having to pay rent somewhere, and oh yes, taking advantage of multiple, multiple give-aways for food and clothes. I’ve always held that American’s are so generous during times of need. Just last night friends of ours offered us their back-house so that we can stop the accrual of an expensive hotel bill while the final interior and exterior cleaning happens at our place, hopefully making it safe to return to. In our particular situation, our bespoke 100 year old cottage not only endured a huge and dangerous smoke plume for days after the fire devastated the community of Altadena, but there were also 19 homes that burned only blocks east of us just over the border from Altadena into Pasadena.
Pasadena City Hall 1.28.25
Locals know that together, Altadena and Pasadena form an area called Dena, which we have covered lots of time here at CultureHoney.com
Well, Dena is devastated. Not so much the central or southern areas of Pasadena, or Old Town, but still and yet – Dena is devastated. If you’ve seen the air shots, it truly looks like a war zone. Add to it the national guard out in Humvee’s and the traumatic imagery is complete.
Humvee’s in Out My Windshield – Dena, January 22, 2025
But there was something else about to happen, something that felt like a compound trauma to 49% of those who did not vote for the incoming and current governmental administration.
The inauguration of the 47th president of the US fell on Monday, January 20th, the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year. MLK’s daughter, Bernice King, said in the lead-up the 20th, “Don’t act like everyone loved my father. He was assassinated. A 1967 poll reflected that he was one of the most hated men in America. Most hated. Many who quote him now and evoke him to deter justice today would likely hate, and may already hate, the authentic King.” Commemorating MLK day this year, in 1925, Bernice King reminded us of our shared history and challenged us to keep love alive, where each and every human is valued in our land, “Mission Possible” being protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of non-violence – 365. She encouraged us all to resisting the forces that would kill, steal and destroy our humanity. “Power without love is reckless and abusive. And love without power is sentimental and anemic.” Also, “power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. And justice at it’s best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
Wow. And wow again. Will we answer her call to “say yes to the power and strength of love.” “We will not go back.” “We will not close our eyes, we will not be silent“. In the spirit of love and determination we will remain woke because too much is on the line.” “We may suffer finite disappointment, but never ever loose hope.” “Let us use the soul-force of love to defend freedom, justice, and democracy.” “The mission is possible.“
Recalling disasters that have effected me, both near (the Easton Fire) and far (watching on the news far away)…I feel another disaster is coming upon us.
Like watching a beloved family member slowly pass away, even with the encouragement of Sister Bernice, I can’t help but understand the news as a death knell to the country of my birth. Too dramatic? For me these things feel foreign and infused with great loss:
US to Manage Gaza, February 4, 2025
*turning over 5,000 FBI employee names to non-elected people for the purpose of political retribution…
*allowing non-elected, non-senate/congressionally confirmed people into the US Treasury databases…
*suspending the life-saving work of USAID….
*Exiting global climate treaties such as the Paris accords
*”Declaring” (recognizing) only two genders for governmental purposes
*Removing pages and pages of useful information on our governmental websites
*Censoring, discontinuing and/or defunding any Federal text or policy having to do with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
*Establishing camps for the detaining of migrants and asylum seekers
*Arbitrarily blaming natural and man-made disasters on previous administrations and DEI policies
*Establishing key points of power into the hands of inexperienced conspiracy-driven people
*Withdrawing from the World Heath Organization
*Blanket pardoning those who were convicted of January 6 offenses
*Dissolving the Department of Education
*Turning the country of Canada into the 51st U.S. state…
*Buying Greenland
*Disrespecting our allies while cozying up to our adversaries…
*As I conclude, I just watched our president say that the U.S. will take over running Gaza, “a long-term ownership position“, with American boots on the ground if necessary, and that Gaza could be the “Rivera of the Middle East“……
There is too much political news to keep up with each day, (allowing our IRS files to be searched for no-one knows what, firing overseers of our nuclear arsenal, etc.), but I remain thankful for breath, faith, family and friends. These are the things that make life worth living, and these same things will help us make it through. Even when the mountains shake…
