The Future Starts With Soil
Studio Petrichor shares an update after fire took their homes
“Fire is returning all of what we had to the greater cycle. Over a larger time span, everything is coming into balance.”
Shawn Maestretti and Leigh Adams’ slightly twisted sense of humor comes out when they talk about losing their homes to the Eaton Fire. “We give ourselves five minutes for the ‘fun' conspiracy theories on the internet—laser strikes and light rail and so on—before we get back to reality. But then we see how excited certain politicians are for ‘LA 2.0’ and we start to wonder...”
Jokes aside, Shawn shares that the grieving process has barely begun and though myriad theoretical causes and effects from folks who were NOT THERE are being broadcast like falling embers, there is no doubt behind why this catastrophe happened. “The blame game is flying, but we’ve lived here for 5 years and we watched the ecology. We knew this could happen. We did what we could to prepare.”
Shawn and Leigh are regenerative landscape designers based in Altadena who have dedicated their lives to regenerating soil and working in tandem with Mother Nature. They run Studio Petrichor, a team of educators, artists, and designers who reimagine the practice of landscape design by tapping into nature’s intelligence and challenging the status quo.
“The foundation of everything is soil,” Leigh reminds us, “but we call it dirt. We tell our children not to touch it. Our default thinking today is anthro-convenience. This is an opportunity for us to learn how to thrive with the earth.”
“The dominant narratives are mostly fear-based,” Shawn chimes in. “Just like the way we talk about the climate crisis. ‘Biodiversity loss...’ ‘Scary future…’ We try not to use buzz words anymore because they just turn off people’s brains.”
“It’s easier to numb out than think critically,” Leigh adds.
Part of the problem, they say, is the ignorance behind city bylaws and insurance policies. “Bureaucracy says you have to cut down that tree to get insured, but that tree could actually protect your house from fire. There are certain plants that ignite and there are others that stop embers from burning,” Shawn explains. “Look around. How many trees are still standing when everything else has burned?”
Then there are the bylaws that dictate five feet of gravel between a house and the landscape. “Five feet means nothing when an ember can travel a mile. These bylaws are just ink on a page,” Shawn says. “Then you have a flammable fence 6 more feet away. It makes no sense.”
“They haven’t been out in the field,” Leigh adds.
But this is the dominant culture’s attitude—trimming trees and enforcing futile rules—instead of looking at real, integrated solutions. Shawn and Leigh are hopeful that this will change with the rebuild. In between moments of grief and disbelief, finding a new home and supporting their community, they are simmering with ideas for how to build their neighborhood back with resilience and respect for the natural order of things.
“The edges, aka the ecotone, are where the magic happens,” Shawn reveals. “It’s where the most diversity happens, and the most growth. Fire is returning all of what we had to the greater cycle. As devastating as this experience is, we know that over the larger time span, everything is coming into balance.”
It isn’t easy maintaining such a positive attitude, but Shawn says he has been practicing letting go of antiquated belief systems for the past several years—something he has learned from watching Leigh.
“We have a big respect for not knowing,” Leigh shares. “Anthro-convenience comes with a need to control everything—a need that can never be filled. We have to learn to live with the unknown.”
There is no “fixing” nature they say, explaining how the West coast has evolved with fire and how Indigenous practices of controlled burns kept the undergrowth in check and mitigated the damage of naturally occurring fires.
Of course all the preventative practices in the world can’t stop 100 mile per hour winds, and thinking of that happening again comes with fear. But neither Shawn nor Leigh are willing to let that feeling take over.
“We need a little fear, guilt, or doubt to start the engine,” Shawn shares, “but we have to let love drive the car. When you are fueled by love, the fear takes the back seat.”
Leigh agrees, sharing his perspective and referring to them both, and their communities, as phoenixes who will rise from the ashes. “We offered everything back to the earth. It’s returned to the soil, and atmosphere. Now it’s our job to help guide people toward what’s next, and we know exactly where to start: with the soil.”
Every Monday Shawn sends his loved ones a list of 10 things he’s grateful for. Below is this week’s list ❤️
Gratitude for the sake of gratitude.
Remaining in a state of awe and wonder at the possibilities before the ash even settles.
Remaining relaxed and patient for the ash to settle.
Robert [his hubby] for risking his life to protect our home and our neighbors. He truly is MY HERO!!!
Leigh for being as cool as a cucumber. It’s hard to get upset around her cuz she’s so cool!
Porter [their son] for being so brave and strong! Carte blanche for this kiddo!
Fire for the lessons that will come from this! F%CK YOU…and thank you…I know this is for a reason and I am here to find out what that is and share it with the world.
An office that stands because our neighbors were there to water it down when the house was burning.
All of the feelings that are flowing through and around me as I observe them while trying NOT to embody them.
My family for coming together and putting this Gofundme up for us. https://gofund.me/862aeb76
Thanks for this article and insight on Studio Petrichor positive thinking on how to move forward and not casting blame. We need to figure ways to move forward, acknowledging cites are always imposed on nature and we must learn how to be resilient in the face of climate. We love this summer-dry climate, we like that it is hot and dry in the summer, so we must be sure our cities green infrastructure is watered in the winter. We must design our infrastructure to capture rain when it does come to keep trees (like their mother oak) green, hydrated, and healthy. Water management seems a key buzz word as the blame game gets pushed for politician's spin, but in truth let's do re-think water management before we need it to fight a fire, lets use it to slow down fires to begin with by allocating more water to green infrastructure. Let's ask our city leaders to acquire and use more water for greening our cities.