The images of devastation coming from the California fires (in Winter!) have been so hard to process. Homes, memories, histories... wiped out... just like that. I can't imagine. And yet, of course I've imagined it happening to me, to us, over here. It's not difficult. We're all just one disaster away. I'm holding space and grief for all the people, land, animals, plants, water, air, and atoms affected by what was preventable.
Today has been hard. I turned in final grades for the online Gaza course. Of the eleven students who had registered for "Literature Survey 2," just two graduated. I lost touch with the remaining nine, and hadn't been able to get a response from them in months. I will never know what happened to them. I imagine the best. I imagine the worst.
Of the two who graduated, D, promised to stay in touch "God willing, as long as we are alive, to learn from you." The conditionality was chilling. F, turned in work late once and apologized explaining that there had been internet outages and that their tent had been bulldozed. It made me embarrassed to receive that email.
None of this needs to be anyone's normal.
#RestInPowerAaronBushnell
18 comments:
Oh god, how terrible.
The fires are so awful - having firsthand experience with having your city on fire, I can say that it is a devastating and helpless feeling. My third cousin lost his house, the only thing standing was the chimney. It's terrible.
Oh dear I pray for the lives of the 9 students. And wow, the reason the one student’s work was late is horrifying. What a world we live in.
The wild fires are so horrific. And yet there is a large swath of the population that doesn’t believe in climate change. The data is so very clear on the matter and yet the date is dismissed. It’s so maddening! I try to do my part but we need large sweeping changes led by the leadership of our nation and that is certainly not happening in the next 4 years. I fear for my children and the problems they will have to contend with.
Oh that's heartbreaking- your Gaza students. And the communication from the two who graduated- it just reminds you that these are REAL PEOPLE. Why is it so easy to imagine that people in another country somehow don't count?
Take care
I'm sorry so many of your students went missing. That's heartbreaking, but not surprising and I hope it's just the chaos of their living situation and not the worst.
We've watched the news coverage of the fires with horrified astonishment. I cannot imagine the losses.
It's the same way we feel when we watch footage of Gaza and Ukraine. So much loss and so awful.
That email must have been heartbreaking to read, but the lack of communication from the rest must have been equally as shattering. What a mess things are, and how small it makes us feel. Still, we must be determined to light what darkness we can.
Climate change. War. Economic inequality. What world are we leaving for our children? *sigh*
That graphic you found, comparing Gaza to the fires in LA is so poignant. Your students there...so heartbreaking. The emails, the lack of communication, all of it.
I woke up at 4am thinking about the fires, and started thinking about if we had a fire, do I even know who our insurance company is? What about my step-mom, who lives alone across the street from a big forest in Oregon, what about her? I feel so badly for the people there, who have lost everything. And yes, the animals and the trees too. Those forests are devastated.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
What a searing image, Nicole...
Lisa, the good news is that we can still reverse the climate crisis. The bad news is that it will take corporate and state power--if only all of us using reusable shopping bags could do it...
<3 Jenny
Thank you.
StephLove--I found myself hoping they just hated my teaching style or something trivial like that...
I suspect "we must be determined to light what darkness we can" is your personal mantra, Nance. You shared it with me long ago, and it lights my way too. XO
It's not that pleasant for us either, Engie...
I'm thinking of our rather morbid conversation in the woods 😂ðŸ˜
I'm glad you're safe, Julie. My thoughts rushed to my friends in Cali rather haphazardly because my sense of geography isn't great.
There's a lot of excellent stuff on what kinds of documents one must store safely, scan, have on the cloud etc. floating around that I've been taking note of, because I have a bad feeling about the future. I can email these to you, if you want?
I hope your step mom will be safe, and you'll get yourself some restfulness. XO
I think about that, about saving documents on the cloud. I worry about them being hacked, which is a different situation than a fire, right? So yes, I would love whatever information you have!
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