Los Angeles fires only serve to highlight the great divide - Christa Ackroyd

Usually in this situation I take my late mum’s advice and count my blessings with the addendum to think of those less fortunate than myself. It usually works.

And so as the plumber arrives to mend a frozen burst water pipe which has also meant we have had no water for three days I imagined those for whom water is never on tap.

And we did have plenty of snow on the ground to melt for the kettle to make a hot drink. Though was there ever a more first world solution than when I sent out my other half to buy bottled water to make a cuppa? I think not.

Without the need to do what my mum taught me to do and that is make a list of all that I have to be grateful for, I have shivered under two duvets with at least ten layers on and thought of those freezing cold sleeping in doorways in our towns and cities.

How on earth are they surviving? The answer is many will not. I also thought of the pensioners for whom the winter fuel allowance might have allowed them to turn up their heating a little but instead are going to bed early to keep warm.

And I fumed at politicians for telling us it was necessary for the health of the nation. But not for the health of our pensioners.

And so I also turned to the fires sweeping the tinder dry areas around Los Angeles and fumed again as the words of one of the fire fighters rang in my ear ..”we need mother nature to give us a break “.

By that I presume he meant they need the gale force winds which are still fanning the flames to die down and the rain which normally begins in December to do its thing and start to appear.

In the meantime how about us doing our bit for mother nature? Which might just mean stop watering your gardens and filling your pools L.A celebrities.

And conserve the water which was needed to stop the spread and contain the fires which have changed the lives of ordinary folk who live there forever and whose plight has seemed on the face of it to be of secondary importance to those we worship because of who they are or what they have.

Twenty four people have died in the fire which have so far destroyed 40, 000 acres and left hundreds of thousands evacuated. The fires are still burning. It looks like a war zone.

And yet only in the past couple of days have I heard anything about the little people who have lost everything and unlike the rich and famous cannot decamp to a posh hotel or to one of their other homes.

The behaviour of some has been shocking, if we believe what we read. Which in this case I do.

In one of the hotels staff have wandered around the hotel lobby and it’s environs armed with pooper scoopers to shovel up the excrement left the pampered pooches owned by those too entitled or too lazy to do it for themselves as they bemoan all they have lost while staying in the lap of luxury in rooms costing a thousand dollars a night.

So much so that staff are now building a dog friendly area outside, which no doubt they will be forced to clean up as well. Well how about the well heeled not only looking after their own pets but building temporary shelters for those who have lost their homes.

But no. Instead we are told they are in the phone shrieking to their pilates instructors that they simply must come to their hotel room because they may have lost “everything” but they will not get fat.

On the same theme supplies of Ozempic or other ‘essential ‘ lifestyle drugs are being couriered to the same hotel for desperate clients. Absolutely vital in the circumstances wouldn’t you say?

While aesthetic consultants are being required to come and keep up with botox jabs lest the frozen faces of those who have nothing better to worry about should be able to demonstrate shock and sympathy for others left with nothing.

Meanwhile one Kardashian throws in a couple of thousand pounds to feed firefighters while another continues to advertise an empire based entirely on looks and unrealistic aspirations.

Oh and don’t get me started on the facts that Kim K, Kevin Hart and Sylvester Stallone have already already been fined for over use of water since saving measures were introduced in the area three years ago. But no that’s not for the likes of them. And then there is outrage when there is not enough water to put out the flames.

I am not going to bleat on about Harry and Meghan glad handing the rescue service personnel. They did the right thing.

At least they didn’t go walkabout among the rich and famous for whom the world has developed an unhealthy obsession. As for Mel Gibson’s theory that it’s all been a plot to clear the land and build highrises I am at a loss for words.

No Mel. The land has been tinder dry. Water is in short supply and it set on fire. Like it does every year and will do until everyone makes a concerted effort to conserve it where it is needed, stop it melting where it is not and contain it where it falls too frequently.

Which I think is at the very heart of the climate change argument. No conspiracy theory there. We know what is happening.

But then again I genuinely believe the world has gone mad. We buy into crack pot theories that it is everyone’s fault but our own.

We are influenced by people who put down influencer on their cv as their only job. We aim to look like a thousand others who have either starved themselves or gone under the knife to tell us how we should look.

And we continue to measure success by how much people have in the bank rather than what they do for others. And it is time for a reset.

Thank goodness one superstar who has lost his six million dollar home spoke sense amidst the chaos.Enter stage right our very own Anthony Hopkins. No bleating from him.

Yes his words may have been a bit theatrical when he said “as we all struggle to heal from the devastation…it is important to remember that then only thing we take with us is the love we give “.

Smaltzy maybe but there is a certain truth in his sentiment. In other words my granny was right when she told me now matter how much wealth we amass only thing is certain you can’t take it with you.

I am sorry for everyone who has lost their homes.I am sorry for everyone who has lost treasured photographs and the personal memorabilia of life that cannot be replaced. But then again it’s only stuff.

I am most sorry for the folk who haven’t a hope in hell of rebuilding their lives or moving to a house in the Hamptons or an apartment in New York, the people who serve their community, the hospital workers, the hotel staff, the burger flipper, the petrol pump attendant and particularly the pooper scoopers in a posh hotel full of people too lazy to do it for themselves.

Climate change is real. Fires, floods and ‘natural’ disasters will only increase until governments put the planet before profit. And until people start to realise that it’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it that counts.

Right, that’s warmed me up. The plumber has been. Blessings have been counted. I have water in my taps. Food in my fridge. Great friends and good family. Which in truth is all we really need, isn’t it? Stay safe. Stay warm. Stay positive. This too shall pass.