Suza,

Thank you for your letter! It’s so good to hear you’ve settled in and found good people. In time maybe you’ll find that this was all an opportunity!

We’ve been doing well, and just got back from a trip to Yosemite. It was so freeing to escape the madness. It feels like the whole central valley is empty, but we’re still here. We thank God every day that the fire missed us. Truly a blessing.

You should have seen Grayl in Yosemite. He gets so excited to climb every little rock. We took him up the Mist trail and saw the biggest waterfall. The cliffs really are amazing! We even saw people climbing up one of them.

Modesto is quiet. The smoke is clearing, but we hardly see anyone anymore. There’s ash everywhere. Even the untouched houses are mostly empty. Mom says that it’s our fault for doing this to ourselves, and seems almost pleased to think of this as a sort of justice. The air smells putrid, but I don’t wear my mask anymore except on the worst days. Grayl keeps wanting to explore the town, and it’s hard to keep him back. He comes home filthy.

I’m so glad to hear you have good people out there. We were worried when we hadn’t heard from you! I hope the cape is as nice as they say. Tell Franco hi for us.

Sincerely,

Mark