8-15-21
Another slow Sunday. Woke up early to gray skies from the smoke of forest fires. It’s not as bad as it was last year, but any amount is bad. It’s always been bad only now it’s getting normalized. I can’t smell the smoke, but the sun is never yellow anymore. Amelia told me the color of the sun is red and she’s not wrong.
Back when my parents and I drove from Colorado to California to bring my sister to college (probably around 2009) there was a big forest fire going on down in LA. I say big because now they’re huge. Back then we could see the plume of smoke from our hotel balcony. We weren’t the only people standing out there and watching a natural disaster. I say natural when it’s entirely man made.
I’m not against forest fires. They’re a natural part of the cycle. I’m against climate change and the fact that capitalism, white supremacy, and exploitative industries make it possible for travesties like this to happen.
When I lived in Colorado my dad and I would backpack a lot. Our first trip ever was somewhere near the lost creek wilderness. As we hiked to our campground we were surrounded by the charred skeletons of fire-licked trees. While it felt barren there was still growth – the grass, the bushes, the underbrush.
Amelia and I relaxed most of the day since Marie had work. I remember laying in bed, her body tucked in mine, watching a video while I play slime rancher. And even though the world is burning she makes me feel safe.
-E.B.
Ed Boy 