Even after 35 years of writing opinions, much of the craft at the heart of this gig remains a mystery.

You might decide what to write about. Then a cataclysmic event occurs. And you realize that — while you picked the right topic — there is much more to say. So you throw out the script and start over.

In my case, I knew that I was going to write about New Year’s resolutions and how, in 2025, I had whittled down my list to one: gratitude. It’s as simple as it is powerful. While striving for more, I resolve here and now to be more grateful for everything I have.

That’s exactly what I said on television Monday morning, when I was asked about resolutions during my weekly appearance on Spectrum News 1. The TV network is headquartered not far from Los Angeles International Airport.

Gratitude. How sweet is the sound of that word, which has eerily taken on new meaning in the past week. I’ve been thinking about my friends at the TV network — the anchor who interviews me, the producers who put together the segments, the news director who hired me. I pray that they and their families are safe and that their homes are intact.

But even if they escaped harm, their lives have no doubt been impacted by what The Washington Post called “the worst day in L.A. history.” The newspaper is referring to day one — Tuesday, Jan. 7. That was when the first fire broke out in the well-to-do coastal community of Pacific Palisades, which has since been destroyed.

By Wednesday night, just 36 hours after the first spark, a half-dozen fires were burning in different parts of the Los Angeles metroplex. Hollywood creates disaster movies, but now it was cast in its very own apocalyptic drama. Traffic on the major freeways — which is usually horrific anyway — was the stuff of nightmares. Motorists desperately trying to escape flames were trapped, and many of them abandoned their vehicles and made a run for it.

By Thursday, hundreds of houses and businesses had burned to the ground, and thousands of people were homeless. This included many Hollywood celebrities who lost multimillion-dollar homes. You see, fire doesn’t discriminate. Devouring everything in its path, it’s not impressed by fame and fortune. It just needs to eat.

I know a little about being a refugee from wildfires. I’ve gone through the ritual three times in the 20 years since my wife and I moved to the San Diego area. In a small item that the Chamber of Commerce conveniently forgot to mention in the brochure, it turns out that America’s Finest City is also one of America’s most flammable cities.

While on the run, once I made sure that my family was a safe distance from the flames in a hotel 30 miles away, I wrote a column about the harrowing experience.

Part of it read like this:

“My wife and I and our two small children left our home Monday morning. We got the first call at about 7 a.m., and by the time the second one came in later that afternoon, we were gone.

“In similar situations, some people opt to stay put and take their chances. But there is something about the experience of looking out your front door at a red-orange, smoke-filled sky and hearing reports that the flames are 10 miles away — and then looking at the faces of your children — that focuses the mind.

“As a journalist, your instinct is to grab a notebook and head for the fire, even if your editors would never give such an order. When the fire is bearing down on your family, things are different. Daddy instincts take over. You still grab your notebook and laptop — but you also pack baby formula, diapers and bottled water. You grab a few family photos. And you worry about one thing — getting your family the heck out of there.”

For me, the tragic events in Los Angeles conjure up bad memories. But they also put into focus the importance of my New Year’s resolution: gratitude.

Part of being a striver is not being satisfied. When you have a type-A personality, the goal is always to acquire more.

Ruben Navarrette email is ruben@rubennavarrette.com