An LA County botanical gem to offer wildfire survivors a garden respite as six months post-fire near
As the sixth month anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires approaches, The Arboretum and Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation are offering a garden respite for survivors.
Residents impacted by the mammoth wildfires are invited to spend the day, from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., on June 29, walking the botanical paths of the Arboretum in Arcadia.
Courtesy of the Georgina Frederick Children’s Foundation, Free Community Day allows guests to wander the Arboretum’s 127 acres, take photos at the Meyberg Waterfall, and gingerly greet the space’s resident peacocks. (How to make a peafowl friend: stay 10 feet away, don’t meddle in whatever it’s doing, don’t startle these wild things and make sure children also stay away and not touch peacocks and peahens.)
Register at arboretum.org/events/free-community-day. Entrance is timed, and the earliest slot is sold out, but click through the next available time to register. Overflow parking is at The Shops at Santa Anita.
The day’s high is set for the mid-80s so plan accordingly as you meander past what was once the heart of Rancho Santa Anita.
Fun planned includes scavenger hunts, Curiosity Carts, a microscope table, Arboretum Wish Tree and seed giveaway (keep if you’re anxious about soil safety.) There will be food trucks, but I recommend stopping by the Peacock Café. Anything Chef Nikki makes is delicious and say hi to her and Carlos for me. They are the best people.
The garden as a protective, healing space isn’t new, but as Altadena lost so much of its famed trees and wild greenery, Arcadia’s Arboretum can serve as a one-day break from the long, what-now slog for many affected by the January inferno.
One survivor, who lost his home and business, can tally the losses and difficulties chronologically: first his home burned down, with his home-based business and tools and memories; then came sifting through the ashes, without yet worrying about what he was breathing in; finding a place to live; moving from place to place; time spent on phone calls to insurance companies, county departments managed between waves of emotional upheaval; dealing even with renewed trauma as his lot was cleared.
For those with standing homes, the journey has been stressful too. For businesses struggling to keep workers employed because the customers are just not coming.
In the weeks after the Eaton Fire, I remember moments I spent sitting at home, miles away from all the devastation and going over the worst day of so many people’s lives in my mind. That was hard. But even as I say “the road to recovery will be long, and slow and difficult,” I can’t know. Not really.
So days like this, when Altadenans and Pasadenans can put down their everything-wildfire burden for a few hours, can be a solace. A garden is a refuge, especially one where you don’t have to do the weeding or worry about lead content. Even as you miss and ache for your own bit of earth. Thanks to everyone who is making this happen.