California’s wildfires have dimmed the sun, transforming San Francisco’s skies into a Blade Runner scene, a never-ending twilight. They’re calling it a once-in-a-generation event. Record-breaking heat, drought, and fires generating their own weather systems. There have been far too many once-in-a-lifetime events this year. I’d always thought the future was just around the corner, but it’s already here.

Meanwhile, a new book says our president knew a pandemic was coming yet minimized the risks anyway. There are recordings of him saying things like “this is deadly stuff” but “I wanted to always play it down.” In a different world, this would be a bombshell, cause for unified outrage. But it won’t make a dent.

But cynicism is easy. The challenge is maintaining a sense of dignity and maybe even hope in undignified and cruel times.

Abul Mogard – The Sky Had Vanished

Works | Ecstatic, 2016 | Bandcamp