Op-Ed: My memories of California, revived by fires
![Illustration of verdant hills](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5190ece/2147483647/strip/true/crop/913x520+0+0/resize/1200x683!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F24%2Fce%2F28df5c044fb4a92f4e79f2495590%2Fsafe-d-header.jpg)
(Kevin C. Pyle)
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Kevin C. Pyle is an illustrator and the author of several graphic novels and nonfiction books, including “Migrant: Stories of Hope and Resilience.”
![Illustration of a man holding his phone and a cup of coffee](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ee17f13/2147483647/strip/true/crop/938x1322+0+0/resize/1200x1691!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe3%2Fe5%2F5ec8c01a495eb1b5b797a07c90bb%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P1.jpg)
![A boy plays with toy soldiers on the rocky edge of a fountain](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/eafa5fc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/944x1310+0+0/resize/1200x1665!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0f%2F14%2Ff711e7d44721bc1993b32a97b51b%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P2.jpg)
![Illustrations of verdant hills and funerals at a cemetery](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/79dd49d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/927x1323+0+0/resize/1200x1713!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2Ff4%2F19a1c1324915a915bb6ebfab14bd%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P3.jpg)
![Illustration of a goat eating brush on a hillside as two people watch](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2bfb0fe/2147483647/strip/true/crop/948x1332+0+0/resize/1200x1686!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fba%2Fba%2F8eab7d4a44c380eb96fa98113985%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P4.jpg)
![Illustration of people watching fire footage on TV](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bc012fe/2147483647/strip/true/crop/936x1318+0+0/resize/1200x1690!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3f%2F05%2F5b95b46e4a5b853b7ebef2b0d242%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P5.jpg)
![Illustrations of fire footage on TV and Disneyland against an orange sky](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6cac758/2147483647/strip/true/crop/936x1320+0+0/resize/1200x1692!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F62%2Ff0%2Fecee760d4c71bdbd81cf76af784e%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P6.jpg)
![Illustration of the hills on fire around the Getty Center](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ab3eafc/2147483647/strip/true/crop/942x1311+0+0/resize/1200x1670!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1c%2F7b%2F1fbcc53e46489d6140ff95e1cb2f%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P7.jpg)
![A map of where the many fires have struck in California](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/74d0425/2147483647/strip/true/crop/924x1305+0+0/resize/1200x1695!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff5%2F9a%2F3a6127a047b2a0652e0ef413fd33%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P8.jpg)
![Illustration of hills on fire against a smoky sky](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0a48310/2147483647/strip/true/crop/921x1308+0+0/resize/1200x1704!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe6%2Fa6%2Fced348ff4ff09479038a162a8c22%2Fsafe-distance.Fin.P9.jpg)
(Kevin C. Pyle)
Five years after his last visit, an artist returned to the U.S.-Mexico border wall to see what has changed. For a graphic op-ed, he drew what he saw.
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