Mandatory Fires Evacuate Christmas Cheer with Ashy Trees
“Knock, knock,” reverberated through the house.
“Did you hear that?” Nazy asked
“Hear what?” I replied.
“I think the mailman is at the door.”
“Ah,” I replied. “Maybe it’s something for me.” I thought as I opened the door and saw..
“… you’re a fireman!” I exclaimed.
“I don’t want you be worried.” the helmeted intruder began.
“I was a lot less worried before I answered the door.”
“We’ve put a fire truck in your driveway and I didn’t want you to be alarmed if you saw it.”
“Alarmed?” I thought.
“We’re just going to make sure that the canyon next to your house is clear.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“Will you tell your neighbor?”
“Of course. And, eh, thanks.”
And, in spite of this ‘reassuring’ visit, we were not really too concerned about fire. The flames had been stymied about six miles from the house. The weather, i.e. the wind, had been cooperative: allowing fire experts to set controlled backfires. It seemed to be, while not contained, at least directed toward more sparsely populated parts of the state. The big problem was..
“Smoke and Ash!” Nazy exclaimed. “It’s disgusting.”
It’s not only disgusting, it is hazardous to health. The smoke has visible ash and invisible microscopic grunge. The city recommended an N-95 filtration mask, (The local pharmacy scoffed at the mediocre one that I used last week.) Luckily Melika has attended Burning Man for several years in a row, so she had a high-grade mask to share.
The Fire has dampened XMAS spirit. The sky is smokey and you’re not supposed to go outside without a mask. You can’t even..
“…. get a Tree,” Nazy claimed.
“No tree?”
“All of the ones on sale in the city are outdoors and, therefore, full of ash. If you bring something like that into the house, you’ll regret it.”
“Will it be worse than the annual New Year cleanup of dropped evergreen needles?”
And then, on Saturday morning the emergency alert system issued an emergency alert. We were in a mandatory evacuation zone. Again.
We packed up the pre-positioned valuables, filled a suitcase with a couple of days’ supply of underwear and clothes and headed for Melika’s house. Her home is on the other side of the 101 Freeway and very close to the ocean. It will be Armageddon if her house comes under threat.
Aside: Armageddon occurs at the end of times. The results of the last Presidential election has been interpreted by many as a harbinger of the end of times. In short, we may not be completely safe at Melika’s.
When we got to Melika’s we had a ‘great’ view of the fire. Our home is at the bottom of the ridge at the far left of the picture. For reference, on the previous day, the fire, much, much less visible, was at the far right of the picture. Melika and Tom had scheduled their annual Christmas Party for Saturday evening. Throughout the week, all indicators were aligned favorably. Moreover, because the sky looked so dreary, people were looking forward to a fun holiday party. When the winds changed, it was too late to cancel the party. In addition, Nazy and I had promised to have Tiger and Arrow spend Saturday night with us.
Note to interested readers: A hotel room sleepover with a three year old and a one year old is challenging — even when they are both well-behaved.
As mentioned, it’s hard to generate Christmas spirit when the skies are smokey gray. Local merchants are hurting, because shopping while wearing a mask is not fun. People switch to on-line shopping, but if your house is in an evacuation zone, even those packages can’t be delivered. Which means, unfortunately, that we have Christmas Tree problems; ours is scheduled to arrive while we’re evacuated.
Luckily I have Nazy — and she is great at generating Christmas Spirit. (Or at least Christmas selfies).
Nazy’s sole photographic focus, it turns out, is not selfie. She’s a party girl.
And, finally, a heartfelt thank you to the voters of Alabama… and a plea to voters everywhere: please pay attention. Failure to agree with the news being reported does not mean that that news is fake. Facts do matter — and repeated, passionate repetition of falsehood doesn’t change the truth. You have a problem when it becomes necessary to continually change your views (e.g. “there was no collusion” to “It doesn’t matter” or “Bob Mueller is an excellent choice” to “Bob Mueller is leading a witch hunt&rdquo
Responding to the daily lie from the administration with the comment: ‘They all lie’ is not a winning argument and, in the case of this moron, it’s like comparing jaywalking to manslaughter. I believe that it is impossible to simultaneously be a real religious person and a supporter of this white house. And, by the way, the next time I hear the GOP complain about the deficit that they increase whenever they’e in power, I am going to throw up.
For last week's letter, please click here
Nazy’s sole photographic focus, it turns out, is not selfie. She’s a party girl. 