My Dear Friends,
I can hardly find one syllable, much less the words to inform you about the staggering devastation in my part of the world.
I am fine, lucky to be safe. Chico has remained intact. Yet the Chico and Paradise connection is uniquely, lovingly enmeshed. Two very different cities (different demographics, politics, size, climate, lifestyle), somehow we and our Paradise neighbors have grown closer than close. Only ten miles apart, scores of people live/d in one city, commute/d to the other for work. Birth families are/were split between the two. My friends from Paradise have spent oodles of time in Chico, and vice versa.
A handful of you might recall that seven years ago, I moved to Chico for a job in Paradise.
February, 2011 Sign reads
"May you find Paradise to be all its name implies."
Last Thursday, November 8, within one day, an unbelievably monstrous fire tore through and ravaged Paradise - which had been home to over 27,000 people -- many, sick, elderly, and impoverished.
November 8, 2018 photo by Skip Culton
An entire town lost its homes, schools, businesses, precious heirlooms, farms, horses, beloved pets, musical instruments and studios, . . . so much that cannot or won't ever be replaced. Remnants of bone are still being found; numbers of the dead may reach into the hundreds.
I'm relieved to say that my friends and clients are alive and safely housed - though they lost everything but the clothes they wore to escape.
As of now, the fires are only 40% contained. It seems Chico is out of harm's way, as vicious winds push the fires into Paradise's other surrounding cities. Air quality is off-the-charts hazardous, here and throughout much of northern California.
There aren't words for this type of devastation. Well, I can articulate that I'm extremely grateful. I am housed, safe, and loved by many. I also feel guilty. I'm fine. I haven't done enough.
And there's too much to do. The needs of our new neighbors (survivors) are endless.
Our love and determination to help carry them through is also infinite.
It's going to be a very, very long recovery process.
In the midst of it all, heroism and love. I hear story after story - a man who drove his Toyota Tundra to and from Paradise to save people. He got out of it just before it melted. He didn't care; he was thrilled to have saved lives. Upon learning about this, Toyota promised him a new truck.
A man risked his life (as did countless unsung heroes) to keep his and his neighbors' home intact. When asked how they could repay him, he said he'd be happy with a case of beer! (I hope it's high end stuff. Is there "high end" beer?)
Local churches, the fairgrounds, and the Chico Airport are housing evacuees. Businesses are serving free food. People are opening up their homes to whole families, asking nothing in return.
A soft heartedness pervades.
As I sat in an In N Out for the luxury of
chocolate milkshake therapy, a woman at the table next to me asked if I'd been affected by the fires. I told her that I was fine, but I evacuated for a few days -- to be safe. She then offered to buy me food. (So sweet. She doesn't know me, and that I consider a chocolate milkshake to be a nutritious meal. Thus, I was deeply touched.)
One of my clients gave me flowers recently, saying she's thankful for me.
Some of you have checked in on me, and that means the world.
Humankindness endures.
It survives the worst of tragedies.
It won't be destroyed.
It will outlive this unrelenting nightmare too.
This
article by a survivor and Chico Professor, Sarah Pape, is incredibly well written. I don't know how she wrote it, despite her own pain and shattered heart. She's amazing.
Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine.
Stay safe, my dears.
Take care of yourselves.
I love you.
