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UPDATE: OCTOBER 2022: Steven and I left California in 2021 and moved back to the east coast as climate refugees.
In 2017 our community in Santa Rosa CA. was devastated by wildfire that burned thousands of houses to the ground very near our home. Some friends lost everything. Mountains & ridges & forests & vineyards burned, an area 14 miles long. We were evacuated for 10 days. In 2019 another wildfire burned, also in Sonoma County, & we evacuated again. In 2020 TWO wildfires burned around us: one in August; one in September. The 2nd one was once again very close to our home, threatening close friends. We were evacuated again. We decided not to continue living on the edge of disaster.
We sold our beloved home in CA. & in June 2021 moved to Princeton NJ, a charming, historical town surrounded by bucolic farmlands an hour+ from NYC & Philadelphia. My daughter Amy got her PhD here years ago, & I remembered this area fondly. It was a good decision.
It's not easy to move at this stage of life, but we found a compatible neighborhood & have made good friends. Steven's sons & families live not far away. We enjoy sojourns into the city for theater, museums, restaurants, but love returning to our peaceful & safe community. Life still surprises. new experiences & pleasures still await.
We miss the weather in CA., our temple & museum communities, our friends & neighbors & MY children & grandchildren; but we do not miss the wildfires, earthquakes, homelessness, & crime.
Mostly we are more sobered by life now, given the fracturing of the country, the dearth of civility, the deaths of family & friends. But the greatest threat of climate crisis looms largest. We are hitting climate markers recently that we weren't expected to reach until 2050. Climate change has speeded up unexpectedly & exponentially. By 2050 (27+ years from now) it's estimated that from 200 million up to ONE BILLION people will be climate migrants. If we can't handle a few million refugees on our borders in 2022, how will we respond when many millions of fellow Americans are forced from their homes because of storms, floods, droughts, fires? How will we feed them, house them? What will happen to our economy, political institutions, infrastructure? What happens around the world as seas swallow islands & shorelines, decimate crops & farmlands, disrupt businesses & markets & economies? What are our plans B, C, & D?
Climate crisis is real. It is an existential menace that we may personally escape, given our ages. Our children & grandchildren face catastrophes.
On that cheery note, I stand abashed. But I can no longer look away. Can you?
I appreciate reading your comments & stories & remember fondly our young & innocent selves. I salute you all!
Angela Gelber
