louise on the left (coast)

Yesterday topped 110 degrees. Even the birds were silent.   The air, a steady bake, quietly hovered over the surface of our lives.  On an otherwise normal day in Southern California, lawns singed.  Tires burst.  People withered.   If, indeed, geography is personal, then climate is even more so. Here in coastal elementary schools, meccas of mid-century architecture blithely shaded scores of limp children in classrooms untouched by scientific concepts such as Global Warming, let alone one air conditioner.  Not in the budget.  Yet. There were no extra fans, and no school AC.  Perhaps, the (wise and loving) occasional homeroom teacher managed to provide, one or two fans of their own, for their classroom.  But, generally, the schools were all left wide open.   Open and welcoming to the friendly skies of 1957, when they were built.   The only catch is, it isn't mid-century any longer.  It is now 2010. School budgets no longer contain enough for books, teachers, or ev

- over the river. and through the woods. to grandmother's house we go suburb. Fair Oaks. We started in the day before Thanksgiving post-fire rainstorm. Car packed to the gills with too many clothes and car-fun items. Too little sleep. Family gathering of 35+ await us after spending the day on the 5. The way to Grandmothers house was strewn with doll parts. Cactus plants. Power lines. Cars. Peeing in soggy, crowded Del Tacos. Homeless lying impossibly under rain-soaked blankets in the back of fast food restaurants somewhere south of Gilmore. Anderson Pea Soup. Almost there. But not quite. Patience is a virtue. Patience. Like the farm animals who still nibble for something green at the foot of scorched hills. Blackened posts man fields of barren land. Lone power lines the only sign of life past the grey smudge of a horizon. We note the amount of drivers who brazenly talk on cell phones while driving. We count Obama stickers. Note the absence of McCai