Last week was an emotional roller coaster. With two major fires burning in Los Angeles County Tuesday evening, we got very nervous when our house was permeated with smoke and we heard fire engines passing through the area. However, we were lucky and remained so throughout the week. Driven by high winds, the smoke from the Eaton Fire in the Altadena-Pasadena area blew our way but, although our air quality has remained poor, no fires have broken out in our immediate vicinity. The closest, the Palisades Fire, is thirty-five miles to our north. At one time, eight fires were burning in our County. It was down to three yesterday but the Palisades and Eaton fires are still largely uncontained and continue to threaten surrounding areas. Over 12,000 structures have been destroyed, many people have lost everything, and 150,000 are under evacuation orders. People are scrambling to rent - or buy - houses to lend their lives a semblance of normalcy. Rebuilding is going to take years, especially as entire communities have been razed - there are no stores, schools, or churches left in some of them.
Unfortunately, we're expecting the winds to kick up yet again today. My own area is considered at high risk of fire danger so we'll remain on edge like many of those elsewhere in the Los Angeles area, probably until we finally get some rain - and no one knows when that might happen.
I could only manage one floral arrangement this week. I'm keeping my time outdoors to a minimum and wearing a mask while working outside until our air quality improves, which forecasters also predict could remain stagnant until that miraculous rain arrives.
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| I started off with Leucadendron 'Chief ', which has pink and yellow flower-like bracts, and added the larger yellow flower-like bracts of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'. I cut stems of Narcissus to provide an extra flourish. |
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| I dressed up the back view using Aeonium stems. I have a LOT of Aeonium flowers at the moment. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Aeonium arboreum, Alstroemeria 'Inca Sundance', Narcissus 'Geranium', Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', and L. 'Wilson's Wonder' |
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