To fall in love with California
Ballots arrive in recall election, local COVID-19 updates, and the Basin struggles with affordable housing
Hello from California’s high desert. Between the winds and the reasonable temperatures, I’m feeling downright autumnal these last few days, in an extremely good way. We still have a few weeks of August left to go, though, so there’s a chance we get one last shot at summer.
For the last 24 hours, I have been glued to Twitter while watching the explosive progress of the Caldor Fire in Northern California. On Monday evening, the fire was clocked at just under 9,000 acres. By Tuesday afternoon, it had exploded to just under 42,000 acres due to high winds and favorable conditions. Towns were completely leveled, a major highway was shut down, and thousands of people were evacuated. Now in its third day, the fire is 0% contained and threatening the town of South Lake Tahoe in addition to the Sacramento suburbs. Residents are urged to leave soon to avoid traffic but are not currently under evacuation orders.
This fire season has already been a doozy, and it’s forcing me to sit with some deep grief. Already this year, I have watched places I’ve adventured, camped, gotten married at, and otherwise loved go up in flames. I hurt for the places that now only exist in my pictures and memories, which I recognize is nowhere near the amount of grief and absolute devastation those directly affected are having to deal with. My heart aches for the mountain towns, the brewing lairs, the fire towers and PCT hikers and lifelong residents that made those places feel like home. Susanville. Grizzly Flats. Kyburz. Greenville. So many more.
To fall in love with a place like California is to subject yourself to a lifetime of heartbreak.
It’s always changing and, unfortunately, that change is getting more destructive and less predictable than ever before. To this day, I cannot go to Mojave National Preserve because I cannot bear to sit with the sight of charred Joshua Trees from the Dome Fire. I cannot go back to the campground I first camped at. I cannot hike the first stretch of the PCT I set foot on. They’re all gone.
I’m so happy I have photos of these places from a place and a time where reality felt a bit different. I am sitting on top of a snowcapped mountain overlooking the southern Cascades. I am driving up on US 50 past the Kyburz Inn and Bar, still for sale all these trips later, tucked in a bunch of trees alongside a dwindling river. I’m watching a storm pass through the Sierra foothills before the rainbow peeks out among the clouds. If I didn’t have these pictures, it would be hard to remember what these places felt like before the grief set in. I’m so thankful I had the foresight to document them as they were — pure happiness, a little bit of wildness, and a whole lot of California — before the heartbreak set in.
And now, onto this week’s news:
Early and mail-in voting has begun for the statewide recall election for Governor Gavin Newsom
Most registered voters in San Bernardino County received mail-in ballots for the upcoming recall election this week. All registered voters were mailed a ballot directly for the election, which will be held on September 14.
Voters can fill out their mail-in ballots and mail them back or drop them off at any early voting location in the county. You can also drop it off at any voting location on election day.
San Bernardino County is still looking for volunteers to work polling stations on September 14. Volunteers are paid and must complete one two-hour training session before Election Day. You can apply to be a poll worker here. Students are also eligible to be a poll worker.
The election will determine whether or not Governor Gavin Newsom will remain in his capacity as state governor until the 2022 election. To remain, more than 50% of voters must vote “No” in the recall election. If a majority of voters vote “Yes,” the candidate with the highest percentage will become governor. They do not need to achieve a majority of votes to win.
Local COVID-19 Updates: Testing center expands to offer vaccines in Twentynine Palms, free vaccination clinic in Yucca Valley this Friday
The Morongo Basin Healthcare District clinic in Twentynine Palms now offers COVID-19 vaccinations in addition to regular COVID-19 testing. The clinic is open from 3 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. every day.
Appointments are highly encouraged. You can make one for anyone over the age of 12 by calling 760-365-9305. The vaccines and tests are administered free of charge regardless of your insurance status.
Yucca Valley is also hosting a free vaccination event on Friday, August 20, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Yucca Valley Community Center. Appointments are encouraged but the site will accept walk-ins as well.
The site will have both the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well as the two-dose Pfizer vaccine. All vaccines will be administered at no cost regardless of your insurance status.
You can make an appointment or look at upcoming vaccination clinics by going to MyTurn.ca.gov.
Last week’s town council meeting focused heavily on the housing crunch taking place in the Morongo Basin, lasting more than two hours as concerned residents discussed their concerns with councilmembers and housing planners.
A state report said that Yucca Valley alone will need to add 749 new housing units over the next nine years to support the growth in the region. That includes 270 units of affordable housing, with the remainder allocated for “moderate” market-rate housing.
However, the same plan indicated that Yucca Valley needed to build 930 units in the previous nine-year cycle and just 149 were actually completed, the Hi-Desert Star reported.
According to the 2020 Census, roughly half of all property in nearby Joshua Tree was owned as a short-term rental or secondary residence.
Many residents have blamed Airbnb and other “glamping” sites for unnaturally inflating the costs of housing in the area and pushing out renters in favor of higher-paying tourists. The report did not address those concerns.
Pupdate of the week: Alice and Oliver had their first day at daycare this week! We’re hoping to travel some once things improve, and wanted to make sure they were set up somewhere comfy and easy for us. Oliver had a blast but Alice took some time acclimating to all the sounds and smells with the other pups.
Trail tip of the week: More of a PSA, but a ton of outdoor brands are having massive end-of-summer sales right now. If there was a piece of summer gear you were looking at but didn’t want to shell out for, now is the time to take a look at places like Backcountry, Outdoor Research, or even Patagonia for some really steep discounts.
Book of the week: If you have ever used Facebook, I highly recommend digging into a new investigation on the social media giant’s last few years. An Ugly Truth by Sheera Frankel and Cecilia Kang is a deeply reported account of how leaders at Facebook made highly controversial decisions, like whether to remove Donald Trump’s account, and navigated the political waters during a very tumultuous few years. I thought I had heard most of what happened, but this book is full of never-reported controversies and meetings that make me look at the company in an entirely new way.
Show of the week: HBO has been on a roll with its recent lineup of mysterious shows centered on extremely wealthy people, and The White Lotus is no exception. The limited series followed three groups on vacation at a private resort in Hawaii where someone was killed (you learn that in the first 5 minutes, I promise no spoilers!). It’s as captivating as it is weird, made even more so by the fact that its creator also wrote School of Rock.
A quick call out, if you’ll indulge me — I am on the hunt for a landscaper now that the worst of summer has passed. I do not have a green thumb and am not a creative visionary, so I am hoping to meet someone who can teach me the ropes and make my yard a haven for local flora and fauna alike. If you know of anyone, please send them my way!
That’s it for this week! Have a great rest of your week, and get outside!
- Megan