加州夢，一個災難性的警鐘

加州夢，一個災難性的警鐘

The dreamscape of California has looked like a hellscape this week. California, America's Golden State — "Warm, air you can kiss ..." wrote Jack Kerouac — has had choking air, scalding heat and surreal orange skies.

本周，加州的夢境看起來像地獄之景。加利福尼亞，美國的黃金之州——溫暖，你可以親吻的空氣……”杰克·凱魯亞克寫道——這里有令人窒息的空氣，滾燙的熱浪和超現(xiàn)實的橙色天空。

California has been the dreamland of so many who hope to strike it rich or start over: a place for fresh starts, freeways and free love.

加州一直是許多希望發(fā)財或重新開始的人的夢想之地:一個重新開始、高速公路和自由戀愛的地方。

This season has brought a cascade of calamities to California and the West. And Californians may wonder whether these are catastrophes to be endured just once a century or a generation, or are they a new way of life?

這個季節(jié)給加利福尼亞和西部帶來了一連串的災難。加州人可能會想，這些災難是百年或一代人只能忍受一次，還是一種新的生活方式?

Steve Pennebaker, a software engineer and fourth-generation Californian, told us this week that when drought, fires, blackouts and mudslides struck his state time after time these past few years, friends would say, "Well, this is once in a lifetime."

史蒂夫·彭尼巴克是一名軟件工程師，也是第四代加州人。本周他告訴我們，在過去的幾年里，當干旱、火災、停電和泥石流一次又一次地襲擊他的州時，他的朋友們會說:“好吧，一生只經(jīng)歷一次。”

"I've been hearing 'once in a lifetime' every few months for years now," he told us.

“多年來，我每隔幾個月就會聽到一句‘一生只經(jīng)歷一次’的話，”他告訴我們。

Steve and his wife, Susan Parker, were already discouraged by how so much of the state they love had become impossible to afford. Rent and home prices soar for those who can pay, while many of those who can't are left to live out of their cars — or sleep on the streets of California's great, glittering cities.

史蒂夫和他的妻子蘇珊·帕克本來就對他們所熱愛的這個州已經(jīng)無法負擔這么多開支感到沮喪。對于那些付得起房租的人來說，房租和房價飛漲，而那些付不起房租的人則只能住在汽車里，或者睡在加州那些輝煌城市的街道上。

Steve Pennebaker says that with each new year of record fires, drought and scorched air and earth, he has asked his wife, "Are we frogs who are being boiled and don't know it yet?"

史蒂夫·彭尼巴克說，每年新年都有創(chuàng)紀錄的火災、干旱、燒焦的空氣和土地，他就問他的妻子:“我們這些被煮熟的青蛙還不知道嗎?”

When we spoke this week, he and Susan had just moved to Washington state. They have watched California's red skies and raging wildfires from a distance. But there is gray smoke in the air from forest fires in Washington, too.

當我們本周交談時，他和蘇珊剛剛搬到華盛頓州。他們從遠處觀看了加州的紅色天空和肆虐的野火。但是華盛頓的森林大火也在空氣中彌漫著灰色的煙霧。

"Where do we run to?" Steve asked. "We're running out of places."

“我們往哪兒跑?”史蒂夫問。“我們無處可逃了。”

Bonnie Tsui, the California writer, told us this week that her young children first learned to wear N95 masks during the fires of 2018 and 2019, before the coronavirus made face coverings everyday attire.

加州作家邦妮·徐本周告訴我們，她的孩子們在2018年和2019年的火災中第一次學會戴N95口罩，之后冠狀病毒才使口罩成為日常穿戴。

"It stinks that they, at 7 and 10 years old, are pretty good at putting on two layers of masks," she said, "But to leave California is only to deny what we know to be true — the climate crisis is now, and it is everywhere, and we can't run from it."

“他們在7歲和10歲時，就很熟練地戴上兩層面具，這很糟糕，”她說，“但離開加州只會否認我們所知道的事實——氣候危機現(xiàn)在是，而且到處都是，我們無法逃避。”

When these fires have cooled and the air has cleared — for at least a while —California will still be an enormous and astounding place. But can it still hold so many dreams?

至少在一段時間內(nèi)，當這些大火被撲滅，空氣變得清新時，加州仍將是一個巨大而令人驚嘆的地方。但它還能承載這么多夢想嗎?