“Where there is smoke, there is fire.” 🔥💔 I have been swimming in the Bay here all #SummerInPlace. This week, wildfires exploded across the state, filling the air with smoke. One can see three distinct fire clusters from the 1939 bleachers here at Aquatic Park. Or rather, one could. 🎶 On Wednesday, DJs started showing up to play. They spun the house tracks dancers would generally expect in the Black Rock Desert this week. But Burning Man is cancelled, and California burns instead, months earlier than “fire season”. Hope is low visibility. 🌉 The music matters. Walkers in masks stopped a moment to dance. Swimmers raised fists from the water. I danced too. Though we did not know the DJs and they did not ask for anything, they gave so much. 🙌 I have been thinking so much about the parties “when this is over”
I have overlooked the music we need now. Culture is meant for the hard times, not just the good times. So thank you to the musicians and the DJs who play even though we have not asked or supported them because they know that amidst such uncertain times, the heart needs to dance.