Snowfall and Wildfires
It was 28 degrees and snowing in northern Connecticut when the Pasadena fires began. For high school senior Tilden, East Coast weather was something she only experienced during the academic year at her boarding school. While her classmates complained about icy sidewalks and their hair getting ruined by the snow, Tilden was glued to her phone, eyes locked on news coverage of the Pasadena fires.
Her neighborhood back home in LA was in flames. Just 200 feet from the school where her mom teaches, there were miles of ash and debris. Her dad, struggling with serious health conditions, was stuck inside for weeks. A temple down the street, a sacred space for their local Jewish community, had burned to the ground. All she could do was watch from afar. She states, “It’s so hard to just watch it on the news.” It felt like living in an alternate reality.
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, people were talking about their winter plans. Nobody around her really understood what was happening across the country. Life kept moving while Tilden’s friends back home described her hometown as an apocalypse. That constant disconnect, the feeling of living in two completely different realities, started to weigh on her. None of her New England friends had ever experienced an extreme natural disaster.
Tilden says it’s been strange living in two worlds. The East Coast might have its snow days, but it doesn’t live with the constant threat of wildfires, earthquakes, and losing everything overnight. That difference goes beyond geography. It shapes how people see safety, stability, and even what it means to feel at home.
Tilden still deeply values both coasts. She has a special place in her heart for California, stating, “It’s literally the best place to live.” What she hopes for is for people to understand that not everyone lives with the same sense of safety or normal.
