NATHAN MASTERS: LOS ANGELES MIGHT FOOL ITSELF INTO THINKING IT'S CONQUERED NATURE.

TO QUENCH ITS THIRST, IT BUILT AQUEDUCTS TO SIT FROM DISTANT WATER SHEDS.

TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL BUT INEVITABLE STORMS, IT REENGINEERED ITS RIVER, CREEKS, AND STREAMS INTO CONCRETE FLOOD CONTROL CHANNELS.

TO MAKE THE LAND SAFE AND SUITABLE FOR MODERN INDUSTRIAL LIFE, IT DRAINED ITS WETLANDS, PAVED OVER ITS PRAIRIES, AND CLEARED THE AREA OF PREDATORY ANIMALS.

IN THIS EPISODE, "LOST L.A." EXPLORES THE COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY AND ITS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

WE'LL EXPLORE THE ORIGIN OR THE SANTA ANA WINDS AND THE LOSS OF THE MIGHTY GRIZZLY BEAR.

MUCH OF LOS ANGELES' PAST IS LOST TO HISTORY.

LANDMARKS THAT ONCE GRACED SOUVENIR POSTCARDS-- VANISHED.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND EVEN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS-- BULLDOZED IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS.

AND IT'S NOT JUST PLACES WE'VE LOST, IT'S LANGUAGES, TRADITIONS, PEOPLE, TOO.

COMMUNITIES CONQUERED, AND IN THEIR CONQUEST WHITEWASHED.

BUT THERE'S ONE PLACE WE CAN REDISCOVER THESE LOST STORIES--THE ARCHIVES.

"LOST L.A." EXPLORES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY BY BRINGING THESE ARCHIVAL MATERIALS TO LIFE.

HI, I'M NATHAN MASTERS, AND THIS IS "LOST L.A." WE CERTAINLY HAVE ALTERED OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

IN FACT, IT'S HARD TO THINK OF A BETTER EXAMPLE FOR THAT ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION THAN THE CALIFORNIA GRIZZLY, AN ANIMAL THAT ONCE RULED THE GRASSLANDS, HILLSIDES, AND BEACHES WE KNOW TODAY AS LOS ANGELES.

IN THIS SEGMENT, FILMMAKER LAURA PURDY EXPLORES THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CALIFORNIA GRIZZLY BEAR, AN ANIMAL THAT STILL STRIDES ACROSS THE CALIFORNIA STATE FLAG LONG AFTER ITS EXTINCTION.

WOMAN: THE GRIZZLY IS ON OUR STATE FLAG, AND IT IS EXTINCT IN CALIFORNIA AND HAS BEEN EXTINCT IN CALIFORNIA FOR ALMOST THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

MAN: MANY PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THERE ARE NO GRIZZLIES IN CALIFORNIA ANY LONGER.

QUITE A FEW PEOPLE THINK THAT MAYBE THE BEARS IN YOSEMITE ARE GRIZZLIES AND ARE SURPRISED TO FIND THAT THEY'RE BLACK BEARS.

WOMAN: CLEARLY PEOPLE RECOGNIZED IT AS BEING AN IMPORTANT EMBLEM OF OUR STATE.

AND YET, THEY DROVE IT TO EXTINCTION.

GRIZZLIES WERE HERE DURING THE PLEISTOCENE, WHICH WAS THE LAST ICE AGE THAT ENDED ABOUT 10,000 YEARS AGO.

AND THEY SURVIVED THE PLEISTOCENE AND WERE VERY, VERY ABUNDANT.

JARED DAHL ALDERN: IT WAS AN AMAZINGLY DENSE POPULATION, LOTS OF INDIVIDUAL BEARS, BUT ALSO LARGE INDIVIDUALS.

SO IT WAS A VERY PRODUCTIVE ECOSYSTEM THAT SUPPORTED THESE HUGE POPULATIONS OF HUGE BEARS AT ONE TIME.

PAULA SCHIFFMAN: GRIZZLIES ARE BROWN BEARS, AND THE BROWN BEAR IS A SPECIES THAT OCCURS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

THEY'RE IN OTHER PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA.

AND SO IN CALIFORNIA, THEY WERE HERE FOR MILLENNIA, AND THEN THEY WERE REALLY INTENSIVELY BEING HUNTED IN THE MIDDLE 1800s AND EARLY-- VERY EARLY 20th CENTURY SO THAT BY THE TEENS IN THE 20th CENTURY, THEY WERE GONE.

ALDERN: PART OF WHAT LED TO THE GRIZZLY BEAR'S DEMISE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS THAT IT ENJOYED MANY OF THE SAME ACTIVITIES THAT PEOPLE DID.

IT WOULD GO FOR OCCASIONAL SWIMS IN THE OCEAN.

IT WOULD HANG AROUND IN BEAUTIFUL FLOWER-FILLED MEADOWS AND ROLL IN THE GRASS.

AND SO THE CHALLENGE IN ANY PROPOSAL TO REINTRODUCE THE GRIZZLY BEAR TO CALIFORNIA IS THE PRIME HABITAT FOR THE BEARS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOW.

SCHIFFMAN: TO HAVE SUCH A LARGE ANIMAL THAT HAD SO MANY ROLES TO PLAY IN THE ECOSYSTEM, HAVE THAT DISAPPEAR OVER A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, JUST A FEW DECADES, IT HAD TO HAVE AFFECTED ALL SORTS OF SPECIES.

AND WHEN WE REALLY REALIZED HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS, IT WAS TOO LATE.

THEY WERE GONE.

GRIZZLY BEARS HAVE ENORMOUS CLAWS, AND THEY'RE EXTRAORDINARILY STRONG.

AND WHEN THEY ARE HUNGRY, THEY WILL USE THOSE TOOLS TO ACCESS FOOD.

AND SO, THERE ARE LOTS OF EARLY ACCOUNTS MADE BY EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN SETTLERS AND VISITORS TO CALIFORNIA WHERE THEY DESCRIBE OBSERVING GRIZZLIES JUST DIGGING VAST PATCHES OF GRASSLAND LOOKING FOR BULBS, FOR EXAMPLE, OR INSECT GRUBS THAT THEY WERE EATING OR GROUND SQUIRRELS AND MICE AND OTHER BURROWING ANIMALS THAT WERE VERY, VERY PLENTIFUL.

AND SO THEY WOULD CREATE HUGE PATCHES OF DISTURBED SOIL THAT THE NATIVE PLANT SPECIES WERE ADAPTED TO.

THEY'D BEEN EXISTING WITH GRIZZLIES FOR MILLENNIA, AND THE GRIZZLY WAS JUST PART OF THE NATURAL DISTURBANCE REGIME IN OUR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT.

ALDERN: ANOTHER PRESENCE THAT HAS GREATLY TRANSFORMED OVER TIME IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS FIRE.

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CAREFULLY APPLIED FIRE IN A MUCH DIFFERENT WAY.

PART OF THE RESULTS OF THEIR APPLICATION OF FIRE TO THE LAND, IT'S VERY STRONGLY TIED TO THAT INNER SPECIES RELATIONSHIP WITH GRIZZLY BEARS.

WHEN YOU APPLY FIRE IN THE RIGHT WAY, YOU'LL GET MORE WATER INTO A STREAM.

FIRE APPLIED IN THE RIGHT WAY WILL INCREASE AN ACORN CROP FROM OAK TREES AND ALL SORTS OF OTHER FOOD RESOURCES.

AND FIRE WILL ALSO OPEN UP THESE SPACES SO THAT THE PEOPLE WILL SEE THE BEARS, FOR INSTANCE, AND THE BEARS WILL ALSO SEE THE PEOPLE, SEEING EACH OTHER, STAYING OUT OF EACH OTHER'S WAY.

AND FIRE IS A BIG PART OF WHAT MADE THAT POSSIBLE.

FOR MILLENNIA, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND BEARS WAS AN EXTREMELY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP, TO THE POINT WHERE THE TERM FOR "BEAR" WAS SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF GREAT GRANDFATHER OR GREAT AUNT.

MANY OF THE STORIES PORTRAY, IN FACT, PEOPLE BEING SO CLOSELY RELATED TO THOSE BEARS OR THOSE ANCESTORS THAT PEOPLE COULD TRANSFORM INTO BEARS.

ONE OF THE QUOTATIONS THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION WAS A CAHUILLA INDIAN ELDER BY THE NAME OF ALVINO SIVA.

"I KNOW THAT PEOPLE CAN TURN INTO BEARS.

BUT TO BELIEVE THAT, YOU HAVE TO BE AN INDIAN."

OK, WELL, WHAT IF I BELIEVE THAT?

WHERE WOULD IT TAKE ME?

EDWARD WINSLOW GIFFORD WAS A PROTEGE OF ALFRED KROEBER, WHO WAS ESSENTIALLY THE FOUNDER OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY.

AND I'VE RUN INTO GIFFORD'S WRITINGS ABOUT THESE BEAR MEN, THESE BEAR PEOPLE WHO COULD TRANSFORM INTO BEARS.

HE'LL SIMPLY SAY, "THE MAN BEGAN TO TURN INTO A BEAR AND STARTED TO TAKE ON THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A BEAR."

[BEAR GROWLS] OR HE'LL REPORT A STORY AT FACE VALUE ABOUT A MAN FROM TEMECULA WHO TURNED INTO A BEAR AND WAS ROPED WAS AND FLAYED BY SOME COWBOYS WHO FOUND HIM.

AND THE COWBOYS LEFT AND THE MAN SIMPLY STEPPED OUT OF THE SKIN OR TURNED BACK INTO A HUMAN AND WALKED AWAY UNHARMED.

IF YOU BELIEVE THE STORIES, WHAT IT DOES IS IT SHOWS YOU MUCH MORE ABOUT THAT RELATIONSHIP, THAT CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT SPECIES ON A COMMON LANDSCAPE.

AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN SETTLERS, THE BEARS BECAME COMPETITORS WITH HUMANS IN A WAY THAT THEY HADN'T COMPETED WITH HUMANS IN THE PAST, WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE.

AND SO THERE WAS A COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES AND BEARS PILFERING PORK AND BEEF AND HONEY AND ALL SORTS OF PRODUCE THAT THE FARMERS HAD INTENDED FOR OTHER CUSTOMERS.

SCHIFFMAN: THE PREDATOR SUPPRESSION MOVEMENT IS SOMETHING THAT BEGAN IN THE LATTER PART OF THE 19th CENTURY.

THERE WAS A LOT OF THINKING THAT WE COULD CONTROL NATURE.

WE COULD DOMINATE THE ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR HUMAN NEEDS BY ESTABLISHING FARMS, RANCHES, AND THAT THOSE ORGANISMS WERE REALLY NOT NECESSARY.

AND SO THEY WERE HUNTED OUT IN GREAT NUMBERS.

ALDERN: ONE STRONG, SMART, FUN-LOVING OMNIVORE HAD TO GO, AND IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR AT THE TIME THAT IT WASN'T GOING TO BE THE HUMAN OMNIVORE.

IT WAS GOING TO BE THE BEAR THAT HAD TO LEAVE.

I DID VISIT THE SITE OF THE KILLING OF THE LAST GRIZZLY BEAR PRESENT IN WHAT IS NOW SAN DIEGO COUNTY.

HENRY STEWART AND OTHERS HAD BEEN PURSUING THIS BEAR FOR SOME TIME AND MANY PEOPLE HAD SEEN IT.

AND IT WAS CALLED SIMPLY THE BIG BEAR.

IT'S AN APPROPRIATE NICKNAME FOR A GIGANTIC BEAR, ACTUALLY.

IT'S A VERY DRAMATIC PLACE.

IT'S ACTUALLY ON TOP OF A HILLSIDE JUST OUTSIDE OF CAMP PENDLETON, A MARINE CORPS BASE, ON NATIONAL FOREST LAND.

AT THE TIME, IT STRUCK ME AS A LONELY PLACE.

AND SO I WAS IMAGING THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS THAT HAD BEEN THERE BACK IN THE DAY AND THINKING THAT IT FELT AS THOUGH THERE WAS SOMETHING MISSING.

THERE WAS A MISSING PRESENCE THAT HAD ONCE BEEN THERE AND A VERY STRONG PRESENCE THAT WAS NO LONGER THERE.

SCHIFFMAN: THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE WILD IS A DEFINITION THAT IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING.

THE TIME THAT GRIZZLIES WERE HERE, THAT WAS CERTAINLY WILD.

AND NOW THAT THEY'RE GONE, WE DEFINITELY LOST SOMETHING WILD ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT.

ALDERN: I THINK AFTER READING STORIES AND LISTENING TO STORIES, TALKING WITH NATIVE PEOPLE WHO TELL STORIES ABOUT GRIZZLY BEARS, THAT PEOPLE LOST A RELATIVE, LOST A FAMILY MEMBER.

IN A WAY, IT IS A FEAR OF OUR OWN MORTALITY.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LATE 19th AND EARLY 20th CENTURY IS THAT PEOPLE NO LONGER HAD ROOM FOR THE BEAR IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

[BEAR GROWLING] MASTERS: NATURAL FORCES CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE REGION.

IN FACT, NATURE HAS A WAY OF MAKING ITS PRESENCE FELT.

EARTHQUAKES REMIND US OF THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN TECTONIC PLATES, THE DROUGHT, THAT WE LIVE IN SEMI-DESERT, AND THE SANTA ANA WINDS, AS JOAN DIDION FAMOUSLY WROTE, OF JUST HOW CLOSE TO THE EDGE WE LIVE.

FROM FILMMAKER SARA JOE WOLANSKY COMES THE STORY OF THE DEVIL WINDS, THE PRICE LOS ANGELES PAYS FOR ITS NEAR PERFECT WEATHER.

[WIND BLOWING] RAYMOND CHANDLER: THERE WAS A ROUGH DESERT WIND BLOWING INTO LOS ANGELES THAT EVENING.

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE HOT, DRY SANTA ANAS THAT COME DOWN THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CURL YOUR HAIR, MAKE YOUR NERVES JUMP AND YOUR SKIN ITCH.

ON NIGHTS LIKE THAT, EVERY BOOZE PARTY ENDS UP IN A FIGHT AND WEAK LITTLE HOUSEWIVES FEEL THE EDGE OF A CARVING KNIFE AND STUDY THEIR HUSBANDS' NECKS.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WHEN THE SANTA ANA BLOWS IN FROM THE DESERT.

[WIND BLOWING] MAN: PEOPLE TIRE EASILY, ARGUE MORE.

EVEN THE SUICIDE RATE RISES DURING THE MONTHS OF THE SANTA ANA.

THE DEVIL WIND.

DR. MARILYN RAPHAEL: PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY THE WINDS AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN PEOPLE HERE.

MAN: WHEN THE SANTA ANAS BLOW, ALL BETS ARE OFF.

WOMAN: OH, THE SANTA ANAS ARE BLOWING UP MY 'DO.

SECOND WOMAN: I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT THE SANTA ANAS, BUT I HAVEN'T BEEN MYSELF ALL DAY.

RAPHAEL: I THINK IF NO ONE WARNED YOU, YOU'D BE A LITTLE SCARED.

IT'S HOT.

IT'S DRY.

IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO BREATHE.

NONE OF THOSE CONDITIONS ARE COMFORTABLE FOR HUMANS.

I LIKE THEM BECAUSE I LIKE BAD WEATHER.

[LAUGHTER] WOMAN: OH, THE SANTA ANA WINDS ARE JUST THIS, LIKE, HOT AIR.

SECOND WOMAN: THEY'RE WARM.

[SPEAKING SPANISH] MAN: IT WOULD BOTHER ME BECAUSE I HAVE ASTHMA.

WOMAN: I ALSO THINK IT KIND OF MAKES PEOPLE LOOPY.

SECOND WOMAN: I JUST GET REALLY ANNOYED REALLY EASY AND I GET MAD.

SECOND MAN: WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THE SANTA ANA WINDS BEING NAMED THE DEVIL'S WINDS?

WELL, ANYTHING THAT IS NAMED AFTER MYSELF I MUST LIKE IT AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT, RIGHT?

NARRATOR: WHEN AIR DESCENDS FROM THE GREAT BASIN TO SEA LEVEL, THE INCREASING AMOUNT OF AIR ABOVE IT CREATES PRESSURE.

THIS PRESSURE HEATS THE WINDS AND DECREASES THEIR HUMIDITY AS THEY ARE FUNNELED THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN PASSES, GAINING SPEED AND DESTRUCTIVE POWER.

MAN: THE SANTA ANTA--SANTA ANA WINDS.

NARRATOR: LOCAL LORE OFFERS SEVERAL COMPETING EXPLANATIONS FOR HOW THE WINDS GOT THEIR NAME.

ONE HOLDS THAT THE NAME FINDS ITS ORIGINS IN A NATIVE AMERICAN WORD FOR "WIND" WHICH SPANISH MISSIONARIES, DETECTING AN EVIL PRESENCE IN THE WIND, LIKED FOR ITS SIMILARITY TO SATAN.

BUT SCHOLARS WHO STUDY NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES INSIST THAT THERE WAS NO SUCH WORD.

WHILE CAMPING IN PRESENT-DAY ORANGE COUNTY IN 1769, THE PORTOLA EXPEDITION SUPPOSEDLY ENCOUNTERED A FIERCE WINDSTORM ON SAINT ANNE'S DAY.

YET ANOTHER SUGGESTS MEXICAN DICTATOR ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA AS THE WIND'S EPONYM.

THE TROUBLE WITH THAT THEORY IS THAT GENERAL SANTA ANNA NEVER ENTERED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND HE SPELLED HIS NAME WITH TWO Ns.

MOST SCHOLARS GENERALLY AGREE THAT THE NAME DERIVES FROM SANTA ANA CANYON, THE PORTAL WHERE THE SANTA ANA RIVER AS WELL AS THE CONGESTED RIVERSIDE 91 FREEWAY LEAVES RIVERSIDE COUNTY AND ENTERS ORANGE COUNTY.

IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1880 THAT THE EARLIEST KNOWN WRITTEN USE OF THE NAME SANTA ANA APPEARED IN AN ARTICLE IN THE LOS ANGELES "EVENING EXPRESS."

NEWS REPORTER: ...WIGGLING INTO THEIR GEAR AND SCRAMBLING TOWARDS THE STATION FOR THE ENGINES.

THE RANCHERS, THE HOMEOWNERS, THE FARMERS COME AWAKE WITH A STARTLE WHEN THEY HEAR THEM SCREAM BY.

170 MEN ARE FIGHTING THE FIRE, AND THE FIRE IS WINNING.

[FIRE CRACKLES] MAN OVER RADIO: GO, GO, GO.

MAN: IF YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED A SANTA ANA WIND FIRE, IT DEFINITELY IS SOMETHING THAT YOU NEVER FORGET.

[TIRES SCREECH] [SIREN] YOU GOT HOT ASH.

YOU GOT DIRT.

YOU GOT SMOKE.

YOU GOT ROCKS.

YOU GOT PIECES OF BRUSH THAT ARE BLOWING INTO YOUR EYES, EMBERS THAT ARE PELTING YOUR PROTECTIVE CLOTHING.

THE WINDS ARE JUST THAT STRONG, THE HUMIDITY IS JUST THAT LOW, THE VEGETATION IS JUST THAT DRY.

IT'S CHAOS.

IT'S ABSOLUTE CHAOS.

REPORTER: WINDS WHIPPING IN MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS.

SECOND REPORTER: HUNDREDS OF ACRES BURNING, THEN JUMPING THE FREEWAY.

THIRD REPORTER: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAD TO PACK UP AND GET OUT.

FOURTH REPORTER: THE SANTA ANA WINDS, IT'S SCARY STUFF.

BRIAN FENNESSY: NOTHING INFLUENCES FIRE MORE THAN WIND.

40, 50, 60 MILE AN HOUR SUSTAINED, GUSTS 80, 90 MILES AN HOUR, YOU'RE NOT GONNA STOP THAT FIRE.

RATES OF SPREAD WE'RE SEEING IN A SANTA ANA FIRE ARE JUST UNIMAGINABLE.

IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR FIRES TO SPREAD IN THE EARLY STAGES OF FIRE 4 TO 6 SQUARE MILES WITHIN AN HOUR.

THOMAS KENNINGTON: I ACTUALLY THINK THAT THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF A SANTA ANA-DRIVEN FIRE IS THE CITIZENS.

WOMAN ON PHONE: WE WERE QUITE SURE THAT WE WEREN'T GOING TO BE IN THE FLAMES UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE WHEN IT LEAPED OVER THE HILLSIDE THERE, AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN THE WHOLE HILL WAS JUST A MASS OF FLAMES, AND WE JUST RAN FOR OUR LIVES.

KENNINGTON: SOME PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE GONNA STAY AND SAVE THEIR HOUSES, AND THEN THEY SEE WHAT THEY'RE REALLY UP AGAINST.

AND WHAT THEY'VE REALLY DONE IS STAYED PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN.

IN A SANTA ANA WIND-DRIVEN FIRE, ABOUT THE ONLY FIRE BREAK THAT WORKS IS THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

MAN: ASK A LOT OF SURFERS AND THEY'LL TELL YOU THAT SOME OF THEIR BEST WAVES THEY'VE EVER HAD WERE ACTUALLY DURING FIRES.

THE SMOKE WAS SO THICK YOU COULD BARELY BREATHE.

IT'S THIS GUILTY PARADOXICAL PLEASURE KNOWING THAT YOUR PERFECT WAVES ARE COMING AT THE EXPENSE OF DESTRUCTION.

THE SANTA ANAS, ALTHOUGH THEY'RE CALLED THE DEVIL WINDS, THEY'RE PRETTY DARN ANGELIC FOR SURFERS.

OH, WHEN THE SANTA ANAS ARE COMING INTO TOWN, EVERYONE GETS ON THE PHONE.

"HEY, DID YOU HEAR THERE'S A SANTA ANA COMING IN?

IT'S GONNA BE GOOD."

WOMAN: YOU CALL IN SICK TO WORK.

SECOND WOMAN: IT'S TIME TO GET DOWN TO THE BEACH, QUICK.

ROSS BUSHNELL: YOUR NORMAL WIND IS THE WEST WIND THAT COMES FROM THE OCEAN.

IT'S A SEA BREEZE.

THE WEST WIND MAKES THE WAVE CRUMBLE, AND IT RUINS THE SHAPE, WHEREAS AN OFFSHORE WIND, A SANTA ANA WIND, THE WAVE'S APPROACHING, AND THEN IT GETS HIT WITH THIS FORCE FROM THE LAND, AND THAT KEEPS THE WAVE UP.

IT CREATES A TUBE OR BARREL.

HEATHER GARCKEN: IT'S KIND OF INDESCRIBABLE.

MICHELLE WATSON: IT'S WHAT ALL SURFERS REALLY HOPE FOR.

BUSHNELL: KIDS DRAW PICTURES OF THEM ON THEIR NOTEBOOKS.

GARCKEN: IT'S JUST--IT'S PRETTY SPECTACULAR.

BUSHNELL: YEAH, TODAY'S CONDITIONS WERE LOUSY.

IF IT WAS THE SAME SORT OF CONDITIONS, BUT WITH A SANTA ANA, THERE'D BE A HUNDRED PEOPLE OUT ON THAT SAME STRETCH OF BEACH.

GARCKEN: DEAR SANTA ANA WINDS, SEND ME SOFT, GUSTY OFFSHORE WINDS, AND HOPEFULLY YOU'LL GIVE ME A BARREL.

WATSON: DEAR SANTA ANA WINDS, AS SOON AS WE'RE OUT OF THE WATER, YOU CAN GO AWAY.

[LAUGHS] JOAN DIDION: THERE'S SOMETHING UNEASY IN THE LOS ANGELES AIR THIS AFTERNOON, SOME UNNATURAL STILLNESS, SOME TENSION.

THE BABY FRETS, THE MAID SULKS.

I REKINDLE A WANING ARGUMENT WITH THE TELEPHONE COMPANY, THEN CUT MY LOSSES AND LIE DOWN, GIVE IT OVER TO WHATEVER IS IN THE AIR.

LOS ANGELES WEATHER IS THE WEATHER OF CATASTROPHE, OF APOCALYPSE.

THE VIOLENCE, THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE SANTA ANA, IT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE QUALITY OF LIFE IN LOS ANGELES, ACCENTUATES ITS IMPERMANENCE, ITS UNRELIABILITY.

THE WIND SHOWS US JUST HOW CLOSE TO THE EDGE WE ARE.