About Andrew Phelps
Andrew Phelps is a WBUR reporter and the host of Hubbub, a new blog about Boston.
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Waiting for the aftermath
Covered in ash
Driving home late tonight, I could not help thinking the distant lights on top of the San Marcos mountains were flames. I had to keep slowing down the car and looking really hard at them. Just house lights.
The smoke in the air was at its thickest tonight. My car was completely covered in ash. Whenever I walk outside, I start coughing from the drastic change in air quality. We all have to hurry to our cars and keep the windows shut tightly. While driving, headlights flare and produce amazing light displays through brown smoke.
I was supposed to pack my bags to prepare for evacuation tonight, but I didn’t. I don’t want to leave. The fire has moved much closer to our area — to the junction of Route 76 and Interstate 15. I last heard it was about to jump the 76, but I don’t have any more information right now.
Schools and colleges are closed again tomorrow. After talking with the people in charge at The Telescope, the hard decision was made not to publish an issue this week. Our production schedule has been completely interrupted by this craziness.
Everyone, in some way, is generally sad, freaked out, or acting differently lately. I have been thinking a lot about the local natives that live out of town and are far away from the fire. A lot of out-of-town friends and business contacts, also, don’t know why I’m so slow to respond. We’re all just a little wrapped up in this. I have gotten a lot of nice “you’re in my prayers” letters and voice mail messages.
I was at the (north) coast for several hours today — an area of San Diego, geographically, that’s largely unaffected. For the first time I smelled the overpowering scent of salty ocean water — a break from the fumes. It was very pleasant. Warm, sunny weather and clear skies. It was a cinch to forget what life was like 5-10 miles inland. I felt detached. I felt happy. It gave me a good sense of what life is like right now — normal — for people far away.
I wish the aftermath would come, but we’re still in the middle of this.
11 Comments on ‘Waiting for the aftermath’
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Well-done and timely. I will add your name to THE SIEGEL SIDEBAR mailing list. My stories are more thought-out but equally well-written.
HS
Heather,
What’s the site? Also, read yesterday’s entry for something a bit more thought-out.
Heather, after reading a random issue brought up by a google search about your missing newspaper, I question the well-thought out nature of your writing. Cute though.
Don’t make a claim that your not willing to support, please provide me a link to a piece of yours that you consider “more thought out.”
Down here in la jolla, the coast offers no comfort. today i felt as if i were a character in the nightmare before christmas. at 3:00 in the afternoon people had to drive with lights and it felt as if it were already night. the sun was a deep red. its independence day…
its the apocalypse (however the crap you spell that)
i went to wal-mart to buy masks to protect me from the smoke and my [morman] friend lizzy wouldn’t stop talking about how the bible says that at the end of the world, the sun will turn red. she spent our trip taking pictures of the sun and screaming to people that they should repent…
it made me wonder if she really thinks that the bible’s prophecies revolved around california (land of the action heros)…
actually, your moron friend is wrong. its when the MOON turns red. not the sun. i would know. im a mormon too. but only in disguise. i dont like to talk about that. and if she is screaming at people to repent..i think what she’s really saying is that she is the one who needs to fucking repent. what a moron. if she were a true religious girl, she would know her facts.
Quoth the bible:
“You need to fucking repent, you moron”
ahhh, brian… where would andrewphelps.com be without your insightful comments? ; )
Brian you are so Goddamn funny.
Heather,
What's the site? Also, read yesterday's entry for something a bit more thought-out.