Heaven Hi!!!

We are honored to have a guest today, and a very good friend of mine come, and write to us about an issue that has affected all of us, and that is the recent fires in California. Tad Sisler is a tremendous jazz musician who I’ve known for years. His talent, wit, and insight have been brought to us here at Acting For Real to bring words of truth and testimony to the current tragedy that has affected this great state. Let’s here what Tad has to Say:

On The Fires
By Tad Sisler

We are vulnerable. We attempt to live a structured life with a work ethic, belief in God, a family, or whatever else best describes our identity. The best of us are persistent and kind, and most of us don’t wish harm on anyone, most of the time.

We live our lives and habits in a pattern we create for ourselves, and over a period of time we begin to expect things to remain the same day after day as we hopefully work towards fulfilling our dreams and then, a day comes or an event happens that changes it all.

It took most of a day to begin to realize the magnitude of the fires. After a hand-wringing day of shuttling back and forth between local TV news stations, we were at least for now some of the lucky few who were allowed to stay on temporary house arrest with windows and doors sealed tight to maintain some fresh air in the house, while black smoke and ash settled on our porches.

Most of San Diego was being evacuated, and quickly, as the firestorm was fueled by raging Santa Ana winds. All of a sudden there were 7 major fires burning at once. Backfires were started, and twice, the backfires made it worse, a worthy but losing gamble. Wildfires were raging, too, in Malibu and Temecula and Lake Arrowhead among countless smaller towns and cities all over Southern California.

The reverse-911 phone calls were championed as a new tool in San Diego, implemented from what we learned out of the 2003 fires, and the calls generally worked like a charm. Evacuation orders were issued, and whole neighborhoods complied, although at first there were many firefighters and policemen rescuing people too stubborn to heed the call, thereby taking precious fire fighters and policemen away from the important job of fighting and managing the fires on several fronts. After the firestorm hit and people figured out that this was indeed serious after all, most everyone just paid attention and left quickly.

Qualcomm Stadium, the Del Mar Fairgrounds and countless schools, churches and shelters filled quickly with a half million displaced people, each family with a different story, with different fears or somber news of another home going up in smoke; with the anxiety of wondering whether YOUR home was one of the chosen ones. While an outpouring of supplies and an army of volunteers was created, we all began to fear the worst while hoping for the best. On every channel there were lists and lists of streets addresses and numbers of homes burned, a morbid accounting of lives forever changed.

The figures are staggering, more than a billion dollars of damage, well over 1000 homes and businesses destroyed. Burnt acreage is more than 10 times the size of Washington, DC. Whole towns are gone.

Mother Nature is not prejudiced. Multi-million dollar homes went up equally as fast as cottages did. And we were reminded by the deaths yet again of more brave firefighters that any of our fortunes can change in an instant; as fast as wildfire.

The lessons learned again will be many and at an overwhelming cost. Again we witnessed the better angels of our collective nature, and reminded ourselves how fortunate we all are to have such an outpouring of care and concern and help. Again I was reminded of how fortunate I am to live here.

When the story is old and the cameras have turned in another direction, again the basic lessons of life come to mind. Don’t take anyone or anything for granted. Understand that each day has a new lesson for you, and always remember the invincible summer within you.

But mostly, as in life, when catastrophe strikes, hold your head up and don’t walk away from the rubble until it is completely rebuilt.

Heaven Hi!!! Again, you can check out Tad’s work and music that is sold on several websites, including Amazon.com where you will also find my, Acting For Real book. Check him out. He is an awesome talent and an honored friend. Until we meet again………

Be BOP!!!
Thom