At left: snapshot I just phonecammed of the sky outside my home. Los Angeles is a very strange place to be this afternoon. Mad Max kind of vibe. Sunset, all day long. When I step away from the laptop, open the door, and step out into the street, I taste ash. See little bits of carbon floating in the air, little dark snowflakes. Smell smoke. Car is covered in fine black soot. It’s hot here, but it’s not just hot south hot, it’s a weird kind of hot. Barbecued city hot. Freeways and roads are closed all over. Mayors appear on TV, telling entire cities to stay home from work.
I ate lunch on the westside with a friend today. Outside the cafe walls, in the open air, two tanned Hollywood moms in Gucci shades — with infants at breast — nibble on arugula. My friend exhales quickly, expressing disgust, then says, “How could any responsible mother just sit outside in the air with her baby today?” They’re closing schools, too, because outdoor breathing is unsafe for children. Usually in the afternoons, you’ll see a track-field of boys in football practice at the high school down the street from my home. Not today. Everything that’s solid bears burnt dust; everything that’s air is mud-orange, and I feel anxious, restless. Dirty and uptight. Boxed in.
Here are a bunch of links to blog coverage, thanks to Jonah at LABlogs.com.
Links from Oct 28: Joseph :: Extensive
collection on pictures in San Diego :: green
gabbro :: tolitz
:: Kenneth Cowan :: yambiguity
(pics) :: kristen havens
:: cruft (pic)
:: koganuts (lots of pictures and first hand
account) ::
Links from Oct 27: Brain
Farts (with pics) :: Give
War a Chance :: 20 20 Hindsight (multiple
posts) :: Sean
Bonner (with pics) :: Douglas Welch
(multiple posts) :: Tankbear
:: Grotani
:: Floorpie
:: Skits :: Dogs
don’t purr :: Bitty Boo :: Kitty
Bukkake :: Everything is Wrong (pictures,
close to the fire) :: zilched
:: cognizant :: boing
boing (with links to photoblogs) :: baldilocks
:: xero79
(pictures) :: emmanuelle (pics) :: incadenza
(multiple entries) :: MyHuman (pics)
:: annika
:: marc brown (with links
to pics) :: painfully
cool :: los(t)
angeles :: blogging.la (dramatic pics)
:: Textamerica Fire Moblog (cam pics from
around the southland) :: Doc
Searls (with an inflight pic from today) ::
News/Satellite Photos: Satellite
shot showing fires from Ventura to Baja :: Yahoo
News Photos Detailed maps and affected area updates at GeoMac Wildland Fire Support’s California Wildfire Viewer.
