Live From The OC

The party has moved. Greetings from Orange County. I drove this afternoon from the San Fernando Valley down past Los Angeles, Anaheim and Irvine to Lake Forest.

I am learning to really lean on the GPS. What I’ve found is advance planning is a necessity. The downside is, the GPS demands attention. You can’t look at the road when you’re looking at the GPS.

Use the power wisely, Luke.

As soon as I-5 broke into Orange County, the entire feel of the landscape changed. It was as if a switch had been thrown. This is a land where nothing is old!

This town, Lake Forest, was virtual nothingness 30 years ago. Nothing here is ugly or ramshackle or unplanned.

My cousins live on a man made lake in community of single homes not far from where the El Toro Marine Air Station was. Looking out their back door reminds me more of Disney than a conventional neighborhood.

We to a quick stop for coffee at a gigantic mall. There is both a skating rink and Ferris wheel along with the stores. The mall is mainly uncovered with wide walkways

Everyone is stylishly dressed. Stef would love it here.







Fires And Family

My California cousins live in Lake Forest, CA. It’s an area without a natural lake or forest! Man has taken over where Mother Nature came up short. They both exist now.

Cousins Michael, Melissa and Max have split to the coast tonight. Fire isn’t imminent, but its effects are being felt. Ash covers the neighborhood streets. Acrid smoke fills the skies… and their lungs.

Last night Michael and I chatted on the phone. Looking past the now decommissioned El Toro Marine Air Station, the sky was orange. The fire was within four or five miles of their house.

It must be scary to be so close to something so destructive and at the same time so unpredictable. It’s a different kind of fear than their standard fallback – earthquakes. There’s no anticipation with quakes.

Every place has some natural peril. This is theirs.

I guess at some point I’m going to have to decide if I’m willing to let it be mine.