It just rained a lot. After this week's storm we're up to almost eight inches for the season, which means that both fire season is over for now, and The Greening has begun. After a decade in L.A. I'm well used to our seasonal patterns, but as a native Easterner it's still novel to ponder the inversion of dry summers/wet winters vs. what I was socialized to believe is a "normal" progression of seasons. Andrew Dana Hudson recently touched on related ideas in this conversation with Lizzie Wade, expanding his previous concept of thermochauvanism into thermocolonialism, "The imposition of one society’s climatic norms and expectations... ...on a place with a different climate." I've lived here long enough to be extremely defensive on L.A.'s behalf, and it really gets my goat when people claim that we have no seasons. It's empirically false, but it also reveals an ingrained bias toward a specific view of what a season is–which is usually rooted in either Northeastern U.S. or European cycles.

Anyway, post-rain, the previously brown hills are now fluorescent green, and yesterday I went out for a rambling bike ride with friends that took us through the slopes of Mt. Washington, Debs Park (my first time at the turtle pond!) and the surreal, feral landscape of Elephant Hill, where we encountered a pack of two bloodhounds and one goat, along with the burned-out husk of a Nissan Hardbody. Everywhere was lousy with fresh growth, reminding us of the spectacular potential energy that lies dormant under the soil here in the dry months. It was also really nice to spend the day roaming around with friends Tom and Brynn, who leave in a few weeks for Tucson.

While we aren't in national headlines so much at the moment as the epicenter of immigration raids and so-called "civil unrest", but LA Taco's diligent reporting makes clear, there are dozens of incidents every day, including near-constant snatch-and-grabs of one or two people from parking lots, sidewalks, and bus-stops. We've been involved in some efforts to help monitor and respond to incidents.

Recs

This dispatch from Chicago is really haunting.

I'm not a big TrueAnon listener, but I really liked this piece by Brace Beldon about the current terrain of podcasting.

Why is everyone saying "welcome in"?? There isn't a satisfactory answer, but at least someone else has noticed.

I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea and enjoyed it so much that I think I have to read a lot more Ursula K. Leguin, and Siobhan Leddy agrees. Between UKL and all the Dorothy B. Hughes novels I just put on hold, I'm probably set for about six months of reading.

Rebecca Solnit's story about a sign is a reminder of the many ways messaging and communication can function in social movements. Solnit has long been an advocate for “preaching to the choir.” There is something to be said for letting others know that you stand with them (and why I decided wearing a "No Ice in LA" t-shirt might have value, even if I feel a little self-conscious). It’s important that actions back up words, but the words matter too.

Photos