I have just returned from Southern California, where I spent a week producing a recording of singer Susie Glaze. It was a great week for me, working with Rick Cunha in his studio, and assembling a crack band to play Susie's songs. We had Herb Pedersen on guitar, Bill Bryson on bass (now, those guys know how to play together!), Patrick Sauber on banjo (both three-finger and clawhammer), Tom Sauber on the old-time fiddle and Dennis Caplinger on the bluegrass and other stuff, Tom Rozum swatting the mandolin, and Mike Witcher playing resophonic guitar. Susie did a beautiful job of singing. The entire 6 days I was there, the sky was beautiful and clear, and you could see the mountains rising all around the southern San Fernando Valley where we were working. It was gorgeous! Made me think about what a Heaven on Earth the Los Angeles used to be, back when my paternal great-grandmother ran cattle in Eagle Rock, and my maternal grandfather started his dairy operation in Torrance.

Then, on Saturday night, everything started to change. A wild wind whipped through the area when we were in the studio working late, and on the way back to the place I was staying, there were broken trees lying about on the streets. The next mroning, there was a haze in the air and the winds were starting to blow again. By the time I got over the hill into Ventura on my drive home, the air was thick with smoke. By midafternoon I heard that it was so dark in Ventura that people on the freeway had to drive with their lights on. It is a mess down there, and such a contrast to the previous week. These Santa Ana winds always wreak havoc in the Southland, but this year, following a drought, everything is tinder-dry and the wind is just waiting for the slightest spark to ignite everything in its path.

Thhis is a seasonal weather pattern, and the Santa Anas have been blowing for untold thousands of years, but never with this much human infrastructure in the way. My heart goes out to the people who have lost their homes and their communities. We hope and pray that the weather will change and bring at the very least a slackening of the winds. In San Diego County, much of the area that I used to visit and hike in has been burned. Oh, my beautiful trees!

Bring on the rain!
Laurie