#ca wildfires

[careful-silent-still]

so my house burned down. that’s rough buddy etc

[yuumei-art]

Continuing my new series inspired by the CA wildfires. For weeks ashes rained down from the skies, the air became hazardous and all I could do was stay home and dream about being able to just breathe again. 

Wildfires like these will only worsen with climate change. Earlier this year I saw photos of the Australian sky turn red from smoke blocking out the sun like the apocalypse. Then I got to experience that red sky here in California.

Climate change is not some distant fable that may or may not happen to our children. It is happening right here right now and it's up to us to vote for the green policies that will save us from a future of ashes.

[the-vegan-muser]

I had to run some errands yesterday, so I decided to bring my good camera with me to document the bizarre hellscape. These were all taken between 1pm & 2pm.

For those who don’t know, this is what San Francisco and many other parts of the Bay Area looked like all day yesterday because of the California wildfires.

(If you like these, please check out more of my photography on Flickr or Instagram!)

[sanddollarpoems]

You burn down

Ablaze with desire

To consume

To lay claim

To all my pieces

You burn down

And I choke

On the smoke

From your smoldering

You are dangerously lit

[aini-nufire]

My camera is not doing this justice; it keeps auto brightening and adding white color balance. It's 12:45pm and outside is as dark as twilight. The sky is brown. Ash has blanketed everything. It feels like we're living in a sepia-filtered apocalyptic movie. 0.o

Here's another image from a friend earlier this morning that captures the darkness and color better.

[ssarawrr]

It is so dark outside. There is no sun. Only a Smokey, orange sky. We have to turn on all the lights in the house to be able to see.

The CA wildfires are out of control. An “unprecedented disaster” according to news outlets. I have never seen anything like this before. I don’t want it to be real.

I don’t know about you, but I find it rather challenging, impossible, even, to focus on the positives in the midst of all this. On craving the illusion of “normalcy” and hoping for its return in the wake of the climate crisis. Well I will tell you this—this is only the beginning. And it scares the fuck out of me. I am deeply afraid of what the world will look like in 10 years when our “carbon budget” is all used up and irreversible chain reactions beyond human control are unleashed, if nothing changes now—if we, as a people, still crave our comforting illusions. If we do not venture into the unknown, because it is scary and dark. If we decide that we prefer this darkness. And don’t get me wrong, I offer no solutions. I stand here, just as frozen as everybody else, taking shots in the dark, praying for an answer, while our world leaders play golf, eat caviar, and say to us, “we are all in this together!”

I find it essential to cling to my sanity, but when the effects of climate change are just outside my window, I can feel my fingers losing grip and slipping away.

[rampartsquad51]

ash from wildfires. this leaf kept its shape although turned into ash.

[meme-loving-stuck]

Google isn’t really helping me here, does anyone know if there are native/indigenous organizations or communities in need of monetary donation or supplies due to the wildfires in CA?

I found a page for financial and general resources for tribal individuals, posted in 2018, I’m not sure how tangibly helpful this stuff is for native folks living here but I figured I’d include it here because it’s from CA government. This one is a general article about the recent fires, but the “volunteer and donate” link essentially goes nowhere, and has no specific info on the impact native communities are facing.

If anyone has some better resources, specific places we could be donating or directing attention to, please comment it!