Presence

Fire (Again)

October 5, 2024

Smoke plume and a plane that is very much bigger than it appears in the photo.

This afternoon did not go as planned.

I guess that’s true with many afternoons, but this one was not my favorite. I had just finished up a lovely weekend Zoom retreat with one of my online groups when my trusty Watch Duty fire app alerted me to a fire in Placer County. Which is automatically alarming, but became much more so when I saw that the fire was named after my hometown (because it was near my home town).

The rest of the day was marked by stress, fear, uncertainty, and an adrenaline rush that made it very difficult to think clearly. All my other plans went away. I was planning to go for a walk. I was planning to work in the yard, at least a little, even though it was still hot out. But once there is a fire near your home, you don’t go anywhere. Especially anywhere that is away from your cat, car, dog (although he probably would have gone on the walk with me), computer, or anything else. And what about the yard? What is the point of all that work if a fire sweeps through? I’m still feeling unsettled.

It’s tragic that I’m starting to get used to this at least a little, though, and that it doesn’t surprise me anymore. It happens about every fire season now. October days that top out above 90 degrees are not helping. I’ve written here before that with each evacuation warning, I get better at managing the evacuation process. It’s a dance of checking the fire app every few minutes (how bad is this? Do I really need to start packing?) and then running out to the car to start the loading process. I packed up my pillow and overnight case first, and just a few minutes ago went out to get them again since it’s dark now, and the fire seems to be moderating. I left most everything else in the car, though: a quilt that my grandmother made, a few framed photos, artwork that my children created years ago. The things that make my home feel like home. With luck, I will be able to hang the pictures back where they go soon.

Our town was hosting an Octoberfest party this afternoon, a fundraiser for our historic schoolhouse that acts as the town’s community center. The nearby fire started not long after the gathering. For a time, music from the band that was playing outside joined the wail of firetruck sirens and the roar of planes overhead. It was a surreal concert. Someone must have finally told the band members and partygoers to head home. Volunteers set up tables and chairs at the outdoor venue, bought food, procured ample amounts of beer; it’s a shame that the event was cut short. Another loss in this time of so many losses.

We are lucky that a nighttime helicopter continued to circle our area for a time. It’s gone now, so maybe that’s a good sign, that they think the fire is under control.  I don’t think they used to have helicopters that worked at night with pilots equipped with night vision goggles. CalFire is doing what it can to up its game. Another good sign is that a local website reports that CalFire predicts that the fire will be contained sometime tomorrow. If they thought the fire would continue to grow, I doubt they’d be that optimistic.

I don’t think any of us will sleep well tonight, though.

Yes. Still feeling unsettled. I spent a good part of the afternoon filling white plastic Costco kitchen-sized trash bags with things that I love and things that we need and lugging them out to the car. Part of me is annoyed that I probably will have to unload the car tomorrow and spend time putting everything away again. A bigger part of me will be very, very thankful if that is the case.

Grateful for all of you who texted or called to offer a place to stay tonight, in case the voluntary evacuation order became mandatory. Also monumentally grateful for the folks who are working to put out the fire, more than 100 of them, according to the local website. I saw fire trucks from all around the area drive past my house. And the planes. And the helicopters. So far, all is well.

Daily Grace

A Litany of Little Things I Am Sad About Tonight

September 28, 2024

(and a few happy ones that writing this helped me remember)

The September Harvest Moon. We were even able to see the partial lunar eclipse. That was not something that made me sad. Quite the opposite!

A few things that are making me sad tonight:

My sweet dog has a burr on his stomach and I have not been able to get it off. There was another one that I was able to cut off, but this one is stubborn, one of those darned clover burrs. He whines when I get close to it. I’m sure it’s uncomfortable.

I dropped my son off at college last week. We left home early Saturday morning, rolled into the dorm parking lot around 4:00 pm, tossed his bags of belongings into a big wheelie cart, found his room, unloaded his bags, and made his bed. I always help with making the beds. Then we took the cart back to the parking lot, and I was hugged and kissed goodbye, and that was that. Maybe twenty minutes had passed. Goodbye, we said. Goodbye, dear heart. See you in a few months.

Then I drove my daughter to the San Francisco airport last Tuesday. That drive, by the way? We left in the afternoon to make sure she had plenty of time to catch her 10:50 pm flight. The drive back in the best of times would have taken a couple of hours, max. It was not the best of times. Because they are doing massive amounts of nighttime roadwork on the main highway, and have it narrowed to two lanes, and actually closed the off ramp that I needed to get home, so I had to trust my handy traffic app to guide me, because even though I have lived in this area for most of my life, I do not completely understand the freeway system. Thank God for that app, because otherwise I might never have found I-80 again and would have been stuck on Highway 50 all the way to Tahoe. My daughter made it on the plane before I made it home. Thankfully, she arrived safely in Barcelona and had a week that included a visit to the Picasso Museum and a tour of Montserrat to see the Black Madonna. I am only a little jealous. Next? She’s off to Madrid, and then probably Portugal, and France, and Italy, and… She’ll be in Europe until mid-November.

Maybe I am a lot jealous.

But I had a good work week this week and was looking forward to a day of rest today. Well. Not exactly rest. Because there are massive amounts of things that need to be done around my house, and I have not been here to do them. I am not complaining, not much at least. I’m grateful for the Japan trip and grateful for the work I have now. But the firewood needs to be moved and stacked. I need to get my weedeater out and trim the grass around the corner. The trees have many suckers that need to be pruned.

I went to bed last night thinking I would do oh so very much today! So it was disheartening when I woke up this morning to a beautiful, bright shiny day and felt like doing none of it. I was tired even though I got good sleep. I felt jetlagged, even though I certainly cannot use that excuse anymore. All the joy and hope and possibility of the day faded as I drank my first cup of tea. What did I feel like doing? Not much.

It was a day like that.

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