The Hills Are Alive ... With The Sound Of Wildfires

California is on fire. Again. It's pretty close to Venice this time, like you can see it in Malibu from the beach. It's super hot. The air is of poor quality. People have been evacuated ... my friend didn't even have time to grab her toothbrush. Shops are closed. Schools are closed. Animals are being evacuated from the L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park. And it's just another day in Southern California in 2018.

A friend of mine posted today that wildfires are terrorist acts. The devastating damage they do starts somewhere ... and it's usually because of an idiot who doesn't know better than to not smoke and toss out your butt. Or make any sparks anywhere when it's dry and windy and prime kindling for a massive fire. We should be better at avoiding wildfires by now.

This has already been an intense week, with the midterm elections (where basically no candidate but Bernie even discussed climate change and the results of it that we see and feel daily), yet another mass shooting (this one not far from the area being evacuated for the fires, as if they haven't suffered enough), and now all of this natural (but most likely man-made) disaster. THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY. Geez.

Get out there and enjoy the hell out of yourself, because we all deserve it. Be safe. Be smart. Be kind. Look out for each other. Love.

Tsunamis in Venice?

The "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs have been up for a while now ... they just appeared one day, without any explanation. Do you know what to do in the event of a Tsunami? Just follow the signs? Yesterday's few hours long blackout in Venice - just as a result of high winds - made us feel pretty scantily prepared in the event of any big deal disaster, so I thought we should at least stop and think about it for a second.

Venice is obviously a low-lying Coastal Area, and that means we're in the "Red Zone" for Evacuation if a Tsunami should hit. You just stop what you're doing and head to higher ground. Period. They explain it all fairly well here. You can download a good pdf about Tsunami Evacuations at www.lacity.org/epd too. The main thing to remember is that if you feel an Earthquake, get to higher ground by any means necessary ... car, bike, or foot.

They suggest some things that you'll want already in a bag - to GO - like:

Food and water
Medications and copies of Prescriptions
Change of clothes and shoes
Personal hygiene/First Aid Supplies
Pet care supplies
Baby stuff (diapers, formula, etc ...)
Copies of Important documents

I have a new neighbor who is psychic (had a shop for 15 years psychic - I'm always more impressed if they can pay rent on an actual structure with their abilities, for some reason) and she told me that I should be aware that there WILL be a major natural disaster involving water (in other words, a Tsunami) in the next two years in Southern California. I told her I'd seen the signs and wondered about it, and she said, "They're up because it is GOING to happen."

Eek. She's lived here most of her life and said, "I know that it's time for me to go." I don't find myself there in my thinking yet, but whatever the future holds - it's good to be prepared, not scared.

And have a lot of fun while you can!