Nightlife

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

        -- Billy Joel, 1989

Like most men of a certain age, I tend to rise to nature’s call once or twice each night. Usually, I perform this task in a semi-conscious state, taking little note of my surroundings – I’m probably not completely awake.

Some nights, like tonight, I’m preoccupied by something and my round-trips to the next room fit into a pattern of alternating sleep and mind-racing as my brain involuntarily attempts to “solve” one ill-defined problem or another.

The challenge facing my subconscious tonight has to do with raging fires back home in California. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced tonight as Santa Ana winds are driving a half-dozen fires toward the sea, leaving scores of scorched houses in their wake.

The matter took on urgency when I received a post-midnight message from a friend announcing that he and his family are among those ordered to abandon their homes and flee to designated shelters, which, one might deduce, could later be threatened as well.

More than 10 thousand San Diegans reported to the football stadium in Mission Valley, raising memories of the fate that befell Katrina victims when they sought similar refuge not long ago in New Orleans.

And suspicions that some or most of the fires were deliberately set reminded me of the futility of efforts by our government to make our nation safe from the acts of those willing to do us harm.

As I crossed the room, I glanced out the window and was surprised to see stars. The forecast is for cloudy skies, thundershowers on Wednesday and Thursday.

The steady bright white body nearest the horizon was obviously the “morning star” – Venus. I suspected that the other three objects were also planets, but a little research revealed that they are Saturn and two bright stars from the constellation Leo.

In less than two hours, the sun will appear in the east and begin its inexorable journey from coast to coast. A few hours later, on the west coast, helicopters and airplanes assigned to California’s wildfires will take to the air and resume their bombardment of the flames.

The pilots of those aircraft, along with dozens of news choppers will assess the situation and those of us who have spent the night fighting the flames in our minds will discover how much good our overnight efforts accomplished.