Essay: we moved to los angeles for the chiller vibe. And then the fires hit | members only

I moved to Los Angeles in February 2022 with my husband and my youngest child, who was in high school. We had visited L.A. many times over the years, and every time we said to each other,

"Why don’t we live here?" So when the opportunity presented itself, we took it.  We mostly moved to get away from the uptight D.C.-area community we had lived in for 15-plus years.

When people asked us, "Why are you moving?" We would answer, "The weather!" I was actually born in the San Fernando Valley and lived there until I was 3, so I could also

tell people I was moving back home.  Our first year here was incredible. It felt like we were on permanent vacation — eating outside at new restaurants, going to concerts and comedy shows,

exploring flea markets, hiking in the Hollywood Hills, visiting Disneyland with our new annual passes, and enjoying the best fresh-squeezed orange juice on the planet. My husband was able to

continue working for his East Coast company, and I was still a stay-at-home mom.  In the fall of 2022, we moved into our new 100-year-old home! The plan was to renovate eventually — when we

were more settled. In September, we took the plunge and began renovations. We moved to a rental in Atwater Village — the same neighborhood as our house — in the eastern part of Los Angeles.

  After months of seeing our home as a shell with everything exposed and only the family room ceiling intact, walls had gone back up. Our retirement dream home was almost complete! And then

a few days ago, on Tuesday, the fires started. I was at the dentist with my daughter and heard another patient talking about a fire in the Palisades. Honestly, I had to look up where that

was! Still a newbie even after a few years.  I had a Zoom call with my East Coast family Tuesday evening and assured them that the Palisades were far from me — 16 miles, I looked up later.

Later Tuesday night, I heard about another fire in Altadena, which is near Pasadena and on the other side of our neighborhood, just 9 miles away. We were now in between two big fires.  We

went outside to check on some things that had blown around in the front yard. I could see an orange glow off in the distance. Our power was out and my first thought was that it was lights on

in a neighborhood that still had power.