What is happening in Los Angeles is our future | Francine Prose

The news from California is clear, but we don't want to see it. It's too confounding, big, complex. But we can sense the danger

When I send anxious texts to friends in Los Angeles - friends who have been evacuated or who are waiting to leave , friends escaping a fire zone, wondering if their life's work has been destroyed, worrying about the smoke's effect on an asthmatic child - I always begin with the same three words:are you OK?

But a continent away, watching photos and videos of a city I love being incinerated, overcome by waves of terror, grief and mourning, I have other questions.