La Honda, California
Julia Johnson (52), Automotive Instructor
Julia in front of her car in downtown La Honda, which is “two buildings on an empty road in the forest.”
What do you see when you look out of your window?
I live upon a hill, so I see the road down below. And then I see across the hill and the road that goes straight up the mountain and is covered with gorgeous California Redwood trees and other deciduous plants. And I see partly into my garden and the fence that keeps the chicken on their side. Yeah, we have four chicken. They are my daughters’. We have a tiny little farm out here.
How does it smell when you look out of the window?
Nowadays it smells of dry vegetation and smoke.
What did you have for breakfast?
Nothing. I find eating an irritation that I endure only when it’s absolutely necessary. The last time I ate was yesterday, when I had dinner. Now that my daughters and I are at home and not going anywhere I don't have a particularly regular schedule, so I eat when I feel like it. Yesterday I had a salad and a piece of pizza, a handful of macadamia nuts and a piece of cheese, a beer and some ice cream. It was “Ben and Jerry's” with lots of chocolate, cookie dough and other delightful things.
What do you miss the most?
Teaching in a regular manner. Because of the Coronavirus our school went fully online like all the other schools in California, but for me this wasn’t a very good idea. I teach automotive technology. Can you imagine teaching people online how to do repairs? I have to teach lectures and the theory part online. And then I am on campus two days a week to do the shop assignments where we work on the cars. This setup is kind of the worst of both worlds. I don't understand why the administration thinks that being at school two days a week is safer than being at school four days a week. My students don't learn particularly well online. They don't read the books. They don’t grasp a lot of the concepts. They expect me to explain everything to them. And they are completing assignments just to complete the assignments. It’s taking ten times longer to get through relatively simple tasks now – tasks like disassembling and reassembling an engine, doing the precision measurements and to find out what the engine needs to be returned into a new condition.
What has become your most important object?
Well, there are lots of little sentimental objects. We discovered that when we had to evacuate our home because of the fires. We thought: “Oh, my God. What do we take?” What is the most important thing? I can’t say. But probably the most useful thing right now is my car. We can't function without it. You know, here in La Honda, a small town about 70 kilometers South of San Francisco, we have a little country store that is five minutes away from our home. But to actually do serious shopping we have to drive at least an hour round trip - unless it's one of these weekends with heavy coast traffic. Then the drive takes three hours.
View into the garden
Julia, could you give us your life in a nutshell?
Oh, that’s a challenge. Let me see. Well, honestly, we have had some drawbacks lately. We have got evacuated for the recent fires. And then the school was closed for several days for smoke days. And our power gets shut off every October because of the high winds. It’s those winds that are threatening California right now. They turn off power during these high wind events, so, we get no power and sometimes no water because we are on the creek and….
“And then the next thing we knew was - California is on fire! ”
..…please apologise for interrupting. I guess this was the wrong opening question. Let me step back and restart. Julia, you have been through a lot lately: There have been the wildfires in California that were the most devastating in September and October burning down around 17000 square kilometers. And then there is the election campaign - and over all that the Coronavirus. What has been the most existential experience for you?
The fire, for sure, because we had to leave our home and wondered if we would have a home to come back to, and, you know, we were also worried about where to take our pets. That was stressful. Even more so as it happened the day after classes started. So not only was I forced to start teaching online, but the following day I was like: “Sorry, we are out. Can't help you. I'm being evacuated. I'll call you later.” That really disrupted the semester for me and my students.
“My school on a smoke day”
How close were the fires to your house?
They were 3.2 kilometers away. It hit the town closest to us. A lot of it burnt down.
But you were prepared, right?
Yes, we had a weather warning for a dry lightning storm that caused the fires. My daughters and I were out at 3:00 in the morning watching the lightning. And then the next thing we knew was - California is on fire! Twitter had the most up to date information from the California Fire Organization. They put out announcements about which towns and roads were being closed and who had to evacuate. And we just watched Twitter every day until our town came up.
How did you react?
I was in a terrible panic. I am deathly afraid of fire. I used to be scared of fire even before I had children. And then after I had the kids, I didn't have a candle in the house for years. Knowing the fire to be creeping up the road was extremely tough for me. And we didn't have a place to go to. We have got four chicken. I have got two dogs. One is the size of a small bear that we adopted shortly before the evacuation. And I have got two kids. It was like – how is this going to work out? And then because everyone was evacuating this area, all the hotels further away were already full of evacuees. We finally manage to spend one night in a hotel with the dogs.
“Lucy, the chicken, named after Lucille Ball, my inspiration and role model.”
And the chicken? Did you take them with you?
No, they stayed in a friend's garage. And fortunately, we were able to come back home the next morning. But then we got evacuated for real. Everybody had to leave. My kids and I were very, very fortunate as my ex-husband offered all of us to come and stay with him and his new wife. They have a huge house with a beautiful garden and a wing for me and the kids. I had my own room and bathroom so I could stay out of the way. That was extremely generous of them. I appreciated it immensely. But a lot of people didn't have a nice, secure place to go. They were staying in shelters, in gymnasiums, while their pets were being evacuated to other places.
How long did you stay at your ex-husbands house?
About nine days. Then I had to leave, because I was due to be back in class. And my ex-husband is in a high risk for Covid. He and his wife couldn't leave the house. Even I wasn't allowed to go to the grocery store. We had to have everything delivered. Fortunately, the authorities had ended the evacuations in La Honda so we could go home. People we know and friends of us have lost their homes. But our house was fine. We were very lucky. I took the dogs and the chicken, the girls came later. And then we slowly returned to normal life. But that wasn’t easy. I was very disoriented. It was not like having been on vacation where you had planned to be gone. It was thrust upon you. So even though we were only gone for a week, it was as if the world had spun in a different direction for a moment.
“ Even though we were only gone for a week, it was as if the world had spun in a different direction for a moment”
Julia, could you explain to me once again why you have electricity cuts in the region?
Oh, sure. In the autumn months we have high winds coming off the Santa Ana mountains in California. They threaten the power lines by breaking the them or by falling trees. When the lines fall down and the vegetation around is very dry there is a high risk for more forest fires. Last year the authorities started shutting off the power for the first time. Now the power cuts are one of those new normal things because vegetation hasn't gotten any less dry, and the winds haven't gotten any less strong. I bought a generator and just tough it out.
Let’s move to another distressing topic, the C-virus. How bad is it in La Honda?We have about ten people who got infected, but there are only 400 people in town. In neighbouring cities, however, there are fairly high rates of transmission.
There have been over eight million Covid-19-cases in the US since the pandemic started, over 220’000 people died from the virus. I assume people in the US are getting close to a nervous breakdown now, right?
You know, it’s interesting. America has the highest worldwide rate of Covid cases right now. One would think there would be terrible panic. But I have been reading about something called “the Covid-fatigue”. Because out here people are over it. They don't want to wear their masks. They don't want to sanitize their hands and stay away from each other. It's absurd. I drove to the beach yesterday and saw that it was packed. The beaches are still closed but people just park on the road and flock onto the beach like there has never been a problem. And at school I teach standing next to my students who are wearing their masks with their nose hanging out and get in one another's cars during the break to get something to eat. With no masks on, of course. It's scary. I really don't want to catch the virus.
Downtown La Honda: “People here are affected by the Covid-fatigue. They are over it. They don’t want to wear their masks.”
But how do you deal with that?
I feel frightened to meet with my friends and be in the presence of somebody without a mask who may have been affected. For me wearing a mask is like a civic duty. It's very frustrating to see people flouting the rules. And here in America they are big on individualism and freedom. People say: “It’s my freedom to NOT wear a mask.” Why is this a freedom? Why is wearing a mask that hard? People even participated in anti-mask-protests. And then we heard that 200 people, who had been at the protests, were infected and are spreading the virus. And what makes the situation worse is that it's difficult to get a test here. Testing is limited and it takes a while to get an appointment. Some of my students reported to me that they were exposed and were waiting one or two weeks for their test date to come up.
Oh, this is horrible.
Yeah, to my knowledge, you can't just walk up and say: “Can I have a test, please?”
“I think, the idea that we are all germ carrying delivery vessels is going to stick on people’s minds”
So, what do you do? Putting yourself in quarantine?
Kind of. I got to say, that coming from a family of introverts, quarantine has been kind of great because I never want to go anywhere anyhow. I just stay home feeling guilty because I feel like I should be more social. But I don't want to go out and see people or do things on the weekend. I prefer to be at home. And more so: Even though I hate teaching online I must say that not having to commute, not having to sit in the car for hours every day, has been fabulous. My chronic back pain is much better now. So, in some ways it has been fantastic. And we live in a really nice place. On the other hand, even I, the introvert, am getting tired of this and I actually would like to go places and see my friends. I went to restaurants a couple of times. We are allowed to be in restaurants as long as the tables are six feet away from each other.
View from my window
“Making s’mores, another US-tradition: roast Marshmallows over a fire and sandwich them between a chunk of chocolate and Graham crackers. The tricky issue with s’mores is that the chocolate is too hard and biting into the whole thing causes the Graham cracker to break, leaving you with a mouthful of crumbs, hard chocolate and Marshmallows melted on your face. My daughter Veronica’s solution was to heat the chocolate over tin foil. Brilliant.”
In how far has the virus changed society?
I think, the idea that we are all germ carrying delivery vessels is going to stick on people's minds. And in some ways the virus has improved people's hygiene and consciousness. Previously, riding the bus in San Francisco or the train across the Bay Area was an exercise in filth. Now there is a lot more thought given to how to keep public spaces clean. There is less coughing on one another or sneezing onto the vegetables at the grocery store. That’s a good thing. I really like it when my cucumbers have not been sneezed on.
I love that. I mean, the cucumbers that haven’t been sneezed on.
It’s a small victory! And furthermore, the new interconnectedness with the internet has also been very valuable. A lot of businesses have discovered that people can work from home and still do their jobs. They don't have to be watched. And people working from home has cut down on air pollution. Especially in our area. On the same time people are happier not having to drive as much as before and spend hours in the car.
Do you think this will be sustainable?
That's probably going to continue to a certain degree. But you know what? I'm wondering how many people will go back to ever feel comfortable again being packed in stadiums during flu season. Do we ever again want to be closer than six feet to strangers?
Hmm, hard to say. Here in Switzerland there has been a lot of talk about solidarity at the beginning of the pandemic. People still love this idea of solidarity when everybody was helping everybody. But solidarity is crumbling, everybody has become suspicious of everybody. What’s the status of solidarity in the States?
That is an excellent question. I don't know if we ever had the same level of solidarity here. I think there was always a small part of people, probably like anywhere, that wanted to be helpful. And then a much larger part of people that only care about themselves. However, out here in the mountains where I live, there's probably much more community involvement and community awareness. We do absolutely go out of our way to help one another as we are all we have. If a tree falls across the road in one of the bigger cities, you would call the city department to come and deal with it. But out here people will hook up chains to their own trucks and pull the tree out of the way so we can use the road.
“My daughter Athena and me at the Halloween pumpkin patch at the La Honda Firehouse. Pumpkin patches, where pumpkins are sold around Halloween time, are a big deal in this area. People come from all over the Bay Area to the coast. It’s like taking the family to get a Christmas tree.”
How strongly has this whole situation, Corona and the fires, affected yourself?
It has probably affected me more than I realize. Things are starting to wear on me. But I try to have a positive outlook and take each day as it comes. What else can I do? I just keep swimming.
Have you been bereft of a plan dear to you?
My oldest daughter and I wanted to do a trip across Russia. I was really excited about taking the Trans-Siberian railroad all the way across the continent and stop in Korea. But then the whole world was shut down. I hope traveling won’t be restricted in the future. I would really like to come back to Europe.
Looking at the US and the political climate, I would love to hear your take on that. It's crazy what is going on. Kind of like a virus in itself.
I am often wondering how we got to this point: How did Trump become our president? What kind of bizarre world are we living in? And then I remember how outside involvement manipulated the minds of voters and that this was part of the reason why this completely unqualified, unfit person got to govern our country. The presidency is about passing laws to the detriment of most people to enrich a very small few. We have seen gross manipulations in previous elections: George W. Bush didn’t win the election. Through various post-election machinations, however, he became president. I can see that happening again. Our election system is as strange and antiquated as our two-party-system id horrible. It seems like the voices of many, many people are just ignored by the very powerful few. It's frightening to think of what kind of country my children are going to be living in. They are 18 and 21 now, they are on the brink of adulthood. And this is what we are giving them.
Are the elections a burning topic in La Honda?
Well, we don't really have a place to get together and talk. We are just seeing each other passing from one corner to the other in the store. The authorities just recently allowed our local bar to open. But I know that the division between Trump and not-Trump is deep. And in some cases, it’s not worth arguing with Trump-supporters about the logic of their position. You will not change any minds. All you will do is frustrate yourself or possibly put yourself in a hazardous situation. So, I try to avoid discussing it with people I don't know well. And even with people I do know, it’s difficult. A close friend, for example, has become a passionate Trump supporter. I was shocked when I found out. Just to hear her talk is unbelievable. I suppose I should make an effort to open up her viewpoint or challenge it. But will it work? Or will just entrench her feelings even more?
“Our election system is as strange and antiquated as our two-party-system is horrible. It’s frightening to think of what kind of country my children are going to be living in. ”
You mentioned the deep division between Trump-supporters and Trump-critics. I guess it cuts through all issues.
Yes. Racism, police brutality, immigration, you name it. We have always had racism and immigration issues here in the US, but now these issues are deeply dividing our society while the government has gone nuts. The political differences are so wide that people aren’t even aware that there are divides. I don't know how the government managed to get that out of control and everybody is like: “Okay?” And I wonder how the old right and the white supremacists did get so prominent, and why are we allowing that. I assume it is similar to the fatigue we were just talking about: Trump's attitude, the Republican’s behavior, the rules they are making, and the Democrats’ passivity have just been too shocking for too long. When Trump was elected, the media exploded, and I remember that I said: “I can’t believe a president is tweeting false information, alternate facts and outright lies!” I remember a time when the media was counting his lies. And now I am afraid that we have just come to accept it as the standard.
As the new normal?
Yes, as the new normal – as much as I hate hearing that term these days, it is true. This is the level to which we have sunk. And like I said, I am sad that this is the world - or the country - my children are inheriting.
What frightens you the most?
It's hard to say what frightens me the most. I have a variety to choose from. But if I think about all the things that frighten me, then it's going to be really hard to exist in this world.
Okay, let's reverse the question: What gives you hope?
To see how my daughters fare. My older daughter is taking a year off and is working in a commercial bakery. And my youngest is studying environmental sciences. She wants to make a change in the world, which I wholeheartedly support. The young people these days really do have very different attitudes from people of my age or my parents' age. They are much more likely to be socially aware and community oriented, striving to make the world a better place. And they know what they are inheriting. They know the baby boomer generation is quite to blame. And they know that they can't be complacent. They are going to make changes.
“Milking a goat - a new experience for me. The goat was one of the herd that my daughter Athena was in charge of milking. She took a volunteer job at a nonprofit organisation down the road that brings underprivileged city kids over here for a week of farm life.”
How does an ordinary day of yours look like?
A typical day would be: Get up, take the dogs out, drink my coffee or my equivalent of coffee, which would be a can of coke, read various things on the internet, clean the house, rake the yard, do whatever household tasks need to be done, work on classes for a while. There's always more to be done than I could possibly accomplish. What else? Hang out with my children. Eat dinner, go to bed. And the date slips by and I don't even notice it.
What makes you happy?
Getting to open my eyes every day. And to then have another day with my children, my job and the beautiful world we live in. I know how incredibly fortunate I am: I still have a job and a home and a family who loves me. We are not fighting a civil war (yet - give it a few months). I am in good health. I have worked hard to have a comfortable life, but I have had a tremendous amount of help all the way. I truly don't have a thing to complain about. There are so many who have so little and suffer so much - I am ashamed to even mention my "first world problems". Our conversation has been a good reminder to me to make a greater effort to offer help when I can, speak up when I should and share what I have.
“I know how incredibly fortunate I am: I still have a job and a home and a family who loves me.”
