Which fires do you need to put out?

“So, what stuff do you care about from your room?”

An odd question to answer when you’re thousands of miles away, much less when it comes from a phone-call-allergic younger sibling. Matthew, my brother, either had an important reason to ask, or he had designs on annexing something.

Turns out he was asking because a wildfire was heading right toward my parents’ house, and he was calling to check whether his itemisation of my belongings (“Keep/Let Burn If That’s What the Universe Has In Store Today”) was right.

He was so calm. So collected. And so undisturbed by my answer, which was: “Sounds good?”