From The Ashes
Identities lost can be reclaimed
I know fellow total-loss Eaton fire survivor, Heather C. Morrow, through the Central Altadena Buy Nothing group on Facebook. I grew fond of her thanks to the little things I would get from the porch of her now burned-down house. For those of you who don’t know, Buy Nothing (BN) is a hyper-local group where neighbors freely give and ask for specific things; the “asks” or “gives” can also be gifts of time or expertise. In 2024, I asked for several hours of help when I finally needed to declutter my garage. My Altadena BN neighbors responded and gave me so many hours that I was able to easily walk into my garage, which had always been the junk drawer of our home. Alas, the Eaton Fire turned out to be the ultimate “de-clutterer,” and memories of my now-vaporized clutter continue to haunt me.
Heather is not one to let moss grow under her artistic feet. She’s an accomplished pottery designer and award-winning photographer, capturing still life, flowers, wildlife, and now, wildfire survivors. She is truly a “Renaissance Woman.”
For her latest project, her instructions were to bring any objects Altadena residents could salvage from the ruins of our homes. “I will be having interviews and portrait sessions on Sundays only,” she added.
In a chilling sidenote, one that has happened to far too many of us, a few things that survived the fire were looted within days of our unearthing them.
By the way, if you happen to see this turquoise and white vintage teardrop trailer, some pinche pendejo(s) stole it from our friend Annie’s burned-out lot a few days ago; Annie was living in it. What is wrong with people?
An item that came through completely unscathed was a turquoise-painted hope chest I got from Buy Nothing. There it sat, next to a melted trash can and the incinerated fig tree, as if nothing had happened at all. I couldn’t bring the chest with me to Heather’s studio, obviously, so instead I brought a piece we dug up from the ashes. It’s an intact spoon rest with “Votes for Women” on it, commemorating the plethora of women’s rights and suffrage memorabilia I’ve collected over the years.
I was, and still am, so grateful for the opportunity to display some of my suffrage memorabilia in the showcases at the Pasadena Central Library in 2019, during the lead-up to 2020, the centennial of women winning the vote. Spectrum 1 News even did a segment about it! Thousands of people saw these items, and now they’re gone. The night before we left the house for the last time, a small voice told me to grab a bag and put some of my precious items inside. We kept telling ourselves we’d be back in the morning, but another part of me knew that wasn’t true. I still haven’t had the heart to look at what I saved because it will bring up memories of everything I didn’t save. It’s definitely a case of the bag being half-empty, not half-full.
The other thing I took to Heather was our Talavera tile address numbers in their wooden frame... also, undamaged, even though the trees and succulents around it were burned to a crisp. It felt right to display the address of our beautiful, now-incinerated Spanish Hacienda-style home.
I’m not going to list Heather’s questions in case you want to participate in this project. I can share her last question without spoiling anything: “Is there anything you’d like to talk about further? “Yes,” I said. “Take climate change seriously. Our disaster is a clarion call to people all over the country and world.” I wish I’d added, “And don’t you EVER say to someone, ‘All you lost is just stuff’!”
Ms. Morrow says, “The project’s working title was ‘From the Ashes’; however, I was listening to a book called Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik, and he talked about how people acquire stuff that reflects who they are — their identity as a person. This resonated with me, so now the title is ‘Identity Lost: Eaton Fire Survivors Rising from the Ashes’.” Since March is Women’s History Month, regardless of what the current administration says, it’s notable that two straight white men made the “It’s just stuff” comment to me. How dare they?! I was stunned and deeply hurt. I know, I know, I know … not all straight white men, but I’ll wager that a gay man of any color would never say, “It’s just stuff,” nor has a woman ever said that to me.
Another generalization, but here goes: in our culture, women tend to be the ones who gather and collect “stuff” and take care of it. It’s easier to minimize loss if you haven’t experienced the heartache of what it took to find and get that item into the house, to arrange it ‘just so,’ to maintain and use it.
In the meantime, if you are an Eaton Fire Survivor, including renters or those who had to remediate contents due to toxicity, and you want to participate in “Identity Lost,” click this link, fill out the simple form, and Heather will reply and arrange a time for you to visit her studio in San Gabriel. Her website is also worth a visit, as her photography is absolutely first-rate. Additionally, if you’re a gallery owner, please reach out to her with available gallery space.
Heather’s project exemplifies how we Altadenans care for each other, which is what makes our community special and continues to do so.
If you’re interested in Ellen Snortland’s online creative writing class, send her an email. There is still a much-needed GoFundMe to help Ellen and Ken recover from the devastating loss of their home and possessions. You can donate here.
It's never just stuff. 💜