Veronica Dymond

Monday, August 11

Dear Last Week Vero,

Done so far!

Fires on the island have me freaked. Prepping and working and hoping for rain.

Big gets: Finished the Picture Start application!

To do for next week:

• IKM cleanup (at 5/18, want 10/18)⏭️

• Folder⏭️
• Merch (mini comics, shirt pre-orders)✅⏭️

**

Sunday, August 17

Dear Last Week Vero,

Fires were still a going and growing concern this week. Checked our emergency kit and worked between pivots, cancellations, delays, and preparation due to these fires. Lived here since I was six. Never had to deal with this before. I’ve seen it on the news in other places, but this much smoke, this size of an inferno, this close by — first time.

My in-laws were on evacuation alert, my students were too, and the city’s kinda a ghost town. I spent a lot of time close to home in case we got any alerts.

Some guy was arrested for starting fires downtown. Bad enough people are having bonfires and wasting emergency resources. But we’ve had hundreds of people fighting wildfires for two weeks in the province. Three, really. Everyone is on edge about fires. Does arson during a state of emergency not count as domestic terrorism?

I went on social media and it was a huge mistake. People are fucked in the head, man. Everyone making it about them, their conspiracies, their bigotries, their insecurities, their defensiveness. The wild thing is, it might be a conspiracy. What does “human involved” mean, right? Did someone not put out a cigarette butt? Were they burning their trash? Did someone set a deliberate fire to cause this much damage? Internet investigators are on the case while our forests and homes burn. (Hey, Next Week Veronica, let me know if it comes to anything. I doubt, but I don’t have your perspective.)

We had rain Thursday, first time this month. I was dead tired, fell asleep, woke up to the patter of raindrops on the street. Never been so grateful to smell ozone. Strange, 3 weeks no rain in St. John’s. They say that some of the fires are “human involved.” Some are arsons; some might have been accidents or ignorance. Some started naturally. Three weeks without rain— natural or unnatural?

I don’t really feel like my work is that important now, while people are out there fighting fires and feeding firefighters, but my work is all I know about, so that’s what I do during an emergency.

• Improv at ASNL✅
• Writing meeting✅
• Half replaced a floor✅
• Folder⏭️🥲
• Book only at 6/18 — not as good a progress as I was hoping, but progress ⏭️
• Merch – Sorted, decided on favs ✅ ⏭️ prep for making it
• Very fun games night!
• Fun times Friday at Susan & MK’s Variety Show. I played some new music, my version of angry protest song, which is more like a depressed complaint song
• Also moderated a movie q&a Friday and met a distant cousin!

So not all bad

*

Dear Next Week Vero,

Try and get something Last Week Vero wanted me to do, please. Anything that needs to get done that’s not done yet. Your window is closing. September draws near.

PS I left you a gift in Procreate. Talk to Stacy.

Love ya, good luck!

Vero, 2025-08-17