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Wildfires, high temperatures, a summer of protests, a rogue leader, and a pandemic. This is life on the west coast of the United States.
“The next thing will be a plague of toads,” says California-based New Zealander Jody Brettkelly.
But it wasn’t the toads who were struggling on their trip to Oregon recently. They were terrifying “huge” fires.
In this episode of The detail, Sharon Brettkelly talks with her sister and brother-in-law Kevin Coldiron about how to deal with the crises in California.
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The couple decided to escape the dark orange haze in Oakland caused by weeks of wildfires and headed for the clean air of the high desert and mountains of Bend, Oregon, where their eldest son, Harley, lives.
“One of my friends called it the apocalyptic Trump orange. There’s ash everywhere, in the yard, all over the lawn, and we’re breathing all of this, ”says Brettkelly.
They had decided to drive the eight hours north instead of flying, due to the high risk of Covid and the often lax enforcement of wearing masks on flights. They planned the trip down the west coast not knowing they would be leading into another deadly wildfire crisis in Oregon.
“Honestly, we weren’t even paying attention to it because a lot is happening here, it wasn’t even news,” says Coldiron.
Supplied
ody Brettkelly, Harley, Cy, and Kevin Coldiron are California-based kiwis.
The couple describe the terror of driving in the dark in the Oregon countryside, huge flames on both sides of the road, and not being able to turn back.
“It seemed to go on and on,” says Brettkelly. She describes The detail what happened when they reached their destination hoping to enjoy the pure, clean mountain air.
Back in Oakland, the couple say the record fires are expected to burn for several more weeks and for many people living in the San Francisco Bay Area they are the last straw.
Coldiron says his cousin packed up and went to Boise, Idaho.
“The mover said that just in August it had already moved 12 people from the Bay Area to Idaho, which is basically driving his truck from one place to another,” says Coldiron.
“A lot of people say, ‘I can’t take it anymore,’” says Brettkelly.
“Even (California Governor) Gavin Newsom says this is the new normal… it will be next year and next year. People say, why should I stay in the Bay Area, where it is so expensive? “
Her youngest son, Cy, 16, has been homeschooling since early March and has no idea when he will return to the classroom.
“Distance learning is quite difficult … it’s about being disciplined, nobody forces you to do the work,” says Cy.
The good news is that he started surfing as a Covid risk-free sport, teaching himself how to trade the stock market with the money he makes from babysitting.
Brettkelly says it has been a “totally s … year, constant firefighters and police sirens, scary day and night, you can’t go out because the air is terrible, most people are sick of Zoom, the news is terrible and The bottom line is that Trump could win again, scary! The people who love him, love him, you’ve never seen such blind devotion. They are also the people who refuse to wear masks. “
Interestingly, says Brettkelly, home prices in Oakland are “unbelievably high.” She says The detail why the prospect of leaving your 20-year home for good isn’t easy; and Coldiron explains the positive things he hopes will emerge from the two crises.
