Hollywood Hills fire, January 8th, 2025
Ironically, I wrote a song a long while back that was coming from my heart, picturing the wisdom of fire and how it represents the spark of creation. Little did I know that it would come to haunt me over 20 years later.
As I was standing on my balcony on a Wednesday night, January 8th, I could see an ominous orange glow in the Hollywood Hills. After the raging destruction in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, I thought to myself, boy are we next? With ‘go bags’ on standby, car backed in to be able to leave at a moments notice, I thought what would you take if you really had to leave? Well, the essentials, your hard drives with all of your work, the pictures and videos of your life and a few clothes to last you a week or so. Here is an online account of what actually happened and how I felt at that moment.
Pacific Palisades fire, January 7th, 2025
January 13th, 2025
Good Monday morning, everyone. Although it seems there’s nothing ‘good’ about it.
Wow, what a week it has been. It seems like everything went in slow motion for me. From being on standby with 'go bags' packed, watching the news constantly, seeing entire city blocks wiped out from the fires, feeling powerless and exhausted. It was a week of nightmares. It was hard to focus on anything while the world around us was being burned away. Family and friends were checking in from all over the world, asking if we were okay. Yes, luckily we were okay, but it didn’t feel like it when so many of our friends lost everything. I actually felt guilty of not having lost our house, if you can believe it. But, we are Californians. We pick ourselves up, dust off and start again. L.A. is not for quitters, L.A. is for winners! Speaking of which, I am really looking forward to the Rams playoff game tonight, it might be a little sign of normalcy, getting back to reality in these emotionally draining times.
I want to thank all of the first responders, our fire fighters, our police and EMS personnel, for saving what could be saved. They came from Canada, Mexico, South Africa and many other states and countries to help us here in California!
You guys did a hell of a job! Thank you.
So, let’s all get together, pick up the pieces and start over. I know it sounds like an easy task, but it’s not.
I’ve been through earthquakes, floods and fires before, but this one was a true monster. It’s one of those we will tell our grandchildren about.
Looking forward, it will take a long time for all of us to comprehend the massive damage and the change of landscape these fires have caused. But, we’ll do it, one step at a time. We’re L.A., we don’t give up!
Stay strong my friends! I know it might feel hopeless after the darkness has fallen over our cry of angels, but we’ll go on.
Love to all, hug a neighbor if you can.
So, the in the aftermath, writing stories and creating music seemed irrelevant. The guilt of ‘not losing your house’ overshadowed almost everything. But, we pick up the pieces and carry on. Hopefully inspiration will come soon!
