WHEN JONNY CALLED JC

Some of you may recall that last June, a proposed trip for myself and Rachel to the Los Angeles area was postponed at the very last minute after I was unexpectedly admitted to hospital to sort out an issue with one of my kidneys. We were to be the guests of Jonny the Friendly Lawyer and Goldie the Friendly Psychologist at their family home in Santa Monica. As part of celebrating the trip, Jonny had compiled an ICA celebrating various neighbourhoods and communities in the LA area.

A number of those previously unfamiliar locations were all over the news last week, and indeed remain so just now as a result of the devastating wildfires that have engulfed the area. Here’s what Jonny wrote about the Pacific Palisades area:-

“The Palisades is a town on the coast immediately north of Santa Monica. It’s where GTFP went to high school (classmate: Susanna Hoffs), 10 years after Sparks’ Russell Mael was quarterback of the football team.”

The photo above is what remains of the home Goldie lived in as a teenager, which she and Jonny had only sold last April. The new buyer hadn’t moved in yet as he intended to do some renovations, so luckily he didn’t lose a house full of possessions. But now, with the whole block gone, it’s uncertain what he can or might rebuild.
The day after the fires broke out, I contacted Jonny via e-mail, hoping that he was somehow OK and to wish him well over the coming days. He replied quickly to say:

“It’s really bad, Jim. Some of our friends lost their homes–we don’t know how many. Three of my bandmates evacuated. Not sure if the fires near us are even partially contained. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for checking in.”

5pm or thereabouts last Saturday, the phone rang with Jonny coming through via FaceTime. I thought he looked as if he’d aged ten years over the course of events, but he was insisting he was fine, as was Goldie. He talked about the impact of the multiple fires across the LA region, mentioning how many people he knew had been directly impacted, adding in the details surrounding Goldie’s former home in the Palisades that I referred to above.

He went on to explain that where he lives in Santa Monica (the southern part of the city) had managed to avoid any of the wildfire reaching his community, but not too far away, where there had been less shelter, more brush and at a higher level where the winds would blow stronger, it was utter devastation.

The number of Jonny and Goldie’s friends and acquaintances who have lost their homes is over 30. And that’s about the same number for everyone they know–the impact is hard to comprehend. He described a surreal scene, of whole areas where nothing remained other than rows of brick chimneys that somehow still reached into the sky, while the rest of the structures had collapsed around them. Of burnt out cars and trucks and of whole blocks of buildings in what had previously been densely populated and thriving neighbourhoods now just vast areas of still smouldering wastelands.

It was no wonder that Jonny looked in such a state of shock, and while I know he is an incredibly resilient individual, he looked frightened as there were still all sorts of issues and problems expected over the coming days. When I asked after Goldie, I was not surprised to learn that she was spending every spare minute that she had, out there lending a hand, not just to people she knew, but total strangers.

The TV pictures and the accounts across the UK media have, in their own way, conveyed how awful things have been in Los Angeles, just as they do whenever there is any sort of natural disaster across the world. Lives have been lost – the actual number is rising with each passing day – and likewise with the homes, businesses and properties that were everything to those who lived and/or worked in them. But it was only after spending 20 or so minutes on a call with Jonny, did I get a fuller understanding of what had happened, but even then I found it impossible to comprehend what it must have been like to have been an actual eyewitness.

This little corner of t’internet is very insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it has organically developed its own small community of like-minded people brought together by a love and appreciation of good music. I’d like to think we all look out for, and care about, one another, and that Jonny, his family and friends, and indeed everyone who has been impacted by this natural disaster, are in our thoughts during these dark times.

Kind of feels a bit trite to offer up any sort of song after all of that. I hope, however, this is acceptable.

mp3: Wilco – California Stars

Written in the dim and distant past by Woody Guthrie, with the tune being composed by Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy as part of the Mermaid Avenue project, recorded alongside Billy Bragg.

 

 

JC