After being evacuated for the Palisades Fire, this is the second Air B&B where the family has stayed.
By DEBBIE ALEXANDER
Once again, I am haunted by the concept of home. Dorothy’s my hero with sparkling ruby red slippers. I wish I were her, think of our house, click the heels three times and return to it.
Yet, life is not so simple in a natural disaster.
Our evacuation continues with an end vaguely in sight. We’re nomads in an extended purgatory now living in our second, much comfier Air B&B in Benedict Canyon – still far from the Palisades.
While staying in Wilshire Vista, the Palisades barely registered with the checker at the nearby Ralph’s. He was clueless about where I really lived, or even about the fire.
We are on an extended unasked-for adventure. To cope, I have adopted continuity. Every day for over 30 years, my morning soundtrack is KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic —now with my gal, Novena Carmel.
I didn’t stop working my two days a week at the American Cancer Discovery Shop which is a charity resale store in Santa Monica. There, I met many customers in much worse shape than me, while four of us volunteers were seriously affected.
Glued to local news, I could not move off the couch. Although, I kept up with my pumping iron at Osteostrong. Last week, I finally returned to yoga and pilates. Our amazing pilates master Mila told me since the fire, she has lost two-thirds of her clientele.
While floating through daily life, I meet many other displaced residents. At my nail salon, a lady told me her home in Sunset Mesa survived along with her neighbors and three others across the street.
She credited the flame retardant paint a contractor recommended. I didn’t even know such a product existed. Somehow, she knew firefighters cut her pool’s cover open to use the water.
During evacuation, needing a task, Scott ventured to the post office first. After he returned to work, I swung by to pick up our stuff. Lily’s special commemorative birthday card got lost in transit. Thank God, it finally arrived.
While there, I saw my co-worker Amy who lost everything. I gave her a hug and asked how could I help?
“I want my old life back,” she said.
I replied, “You always have your memories.”
That might not have been a proper response. I again extended my offer to help her.
Later, she visited the store declaring, “I loved where we lived, so we’re rebuilding.”
My other friend, Jenny, never received evacuation alert e-mails for the Alphabet streets. She later found them in her junk folder. She fled with very few items as the fire approached. Her rental on Embury burned down with most of her possessions and worse, her valuables were at the Bank of America on Sunset.
I met Wayne Meyer, a friendly Highlands’ resident with a smoke-damaged standing home. After chatting, he drafted me to join the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. My many years on the California Riviera Architecture Committee sealed the deal.
“We don’t want the rebuilt Pacific Palisades Village to look like south Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica with all of those boxy apartment buildings,” he commented. I agree 100 percent and have not heard from Meyer since. I heard a rumor that Gelson’s may not be rebuilt.
After 17 days away, I finally returned to our standing home with my husband, Scott. We met the Allstate Claims adjusters from Dallas. Our insurance that day only evaluated the structure and smoke damage. We got a report detailing the minimal cleaning of our property.
Afterwards, I drove to north side of Sunset to view fire damage with my own eyes. On Amalfi, I spotted two properties. One – a double lot – I remembered was rumored to be purchased for President Bill Clinton and Hillary to come to the Palisades post White House. Obviously, that never came to fruition.
The lot next to Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s property burned.
Then, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson owned that exact property and wanted to build a green mansion. Instead, they gave up and bought Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall’s nearby pad.
Sadly, the west rim side of Romany had seven burned homes. The hills beyond appeared extremely charred too. A neighbor walking his dog pointed out that two weeks prior these families were celebrating the holidays — among the ruble, tinsel. Of these seven, it is the middle house that is unblemished as if the tragedy never happened. Homes across the street appear normal as well.
Homes on Romany Drive in the Riviera section of the Palisades burned.
As for us, we have moved into the remediation stage. Same with many of our friends and neighbors — some still reside in hotels. I will share that experience next in Part 3 of “Tales From The Evacuation Zone Continues.” Also, if anyone wants to commiserate with me, then please feel free to e-mail me at skittlesforever@msn.com.
As for home, I told Scott, “Home is wherever we are.” He wrote those exact words on my Valentine’s Day card.