NOT About Boulder Creek

This week it's been all about Santa Barbara, and the incredible Jesusita fire that has caused our family and friends to become refugees.  Some have bunked in with friends who live just out of range of the danger – although with the winds sweeping flames east and west at the same time, it's hard to guess what might be out of range tomorrow, if it is safe today.  For Jude and Mary Jane, who had taken in friends to their home, it was an object lesson in "safe" – they were evacuated at 2 AM on Friday, along with their guests.

My creative siblings have done the ultimate evacuation: they got in a car and headed to Cambria, a lovely resort on the Pacific, at the beginning of the Big Sur Highway.  Those two know how to be refugees: that's got class and style, guys!

This weekend it is beginning to look like the worst is over, fire-wise: but the clean-up will take months, and the rebuilding much longer.

We had planned to go down for a visit in Santa Barbara later this month; but that's been cancelled, as it's not going to be a quick cleanup there, especially with regard to the air.  I can't take a chance on exposing my weak lungs to any particulates floating around in my oxygen.

We have waited, worried, prayed, and been very frightened at times; but everyone is breathing easier now that the winds have changed and fog has returned to its usual perch on the Riviera hills.

I know it could certainly be a preview of summer up here in our wooded hills, and we will be extremely vigilant in watching fire news – with a determination to get out of here to safety if there is even a slight danger on the horizon.  We love our mountain cottage so very much, but neither it or anything within it is worth risking any danger to our lives.