The View Didn’t Burn

A special man named Gary lives in the mountains behind Malibu, California. In the land of Hollywood stars and media moguls Gary managed to snag himself the single most beautiful setting for a home Southern California has to offer. His homesite sits high in a saddle overlooking Malibou Lake, a gem of a community hidden among sycamores and pines, peopled by artists and other idiosyncrats happy to feel a million miles from the San Fernando sprawl which lies surprisingly close by.

Any LA denizen who has the sense to head north on Mulholland Drive long enough to leave the city behind will find themselves surrounded by the seasonally green or brown hills of Malibu Creek State Park, their drive transformed from drudgery to dreamland in a few short miles. Within the enveloping mountains the keen observer would have seen a home who’s view commanded the entire length of the unmolested landscape.

I say ‘would have’ because the Woolsey fire which swept the mountains in November 2018 reduced Gary’s home to ash. He managed to get out with his life — barely — as the flames climbed the steep slopes before breaching the ridge and striking his house with all the intensity of a blowtorch.

Gary was buttonholed by a local reporter on that grim day, several hours after he’d fled. He’d watched in his rear-view mirror as his home ignited, dooming the esoteric memorabilia he favored collecting and all the memories of family life which had adhered themselves to the wooden structure. The pain of the sight shone from Gary’s glassy eyes as he stood beside the TV personality, the reporter’s brow furrowed with a theatrical concern.

“What’s next for you?” the reporter asked the not-so-young gentleman, live on-air. What did he intend to do, now that all his earthly goods were gone.

“Well,” Gary sighed, gathering his thoughts, “I guess I’ll have to buy new shit.”

Those who knew Gary wouldn’t have expected anything else. No whining, no blaming, no angst. Just a moment’s regret, then a plan for the future. He and his wife had escaped. Life remained to be lived, with all it’s joys. As for the accompanying sorrows? Well, they simply make the joys that much more poignant. Life was still his for the living. What more might a man need?

One other blessing remained; his glorious view. I rolled up his long driveway one daybreak next spring, when wildflowers who’d lived the past forty years in the shadow of chapparal were suddenly loosed upon the landscape in bounteous profusion. As I stood where his front door had six months earlier and looked eastward, the sun broke through, anointing the land with rays of liquid gold. And I gained a sense of why Gary might have been able to reconcile himself relatively easily to his loss.

The material things he’d lost can indeed all be replaced. But this, this view, this glory? Nothing, not fire nor despair, nothing except for death itself can take such a thing from a man who knows where to find it.

So, very soon, Gary will once again have this sight to welcome him each morning into the remainder of his days. What more might a man need, indeed…

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.