Ashes hanging out as fires cause mandatory evacuation
I had some special time taking care of both Arrow and Tiger before Nazy returned from Bellingham last week. And, by ‘both’, I mean at the same time. All three of us were in our guest bedroom, eh, our children’s playroom a few days before Nazy returned. Tiger was playing with his cars and…
“I don’t want Arrow to play with any of my cars.” Tiger asserted.
“That’s not very helpful,” I thought. “This room is full of your cars.”
“You can read a book to him.”
“That’s a good idea, Tiger,” I replied. “Can you hand me a book? He won’t get off of my lap.”
“He likes to hang out with you, Dan.” Tiger replied.
They were both very good with me and, to be truthful, it’s not hard to watch them both at the same time — as long as you don’t make the mistake of trying to do anything else. (Because I include going to the bathroom in the ‘anything else’ category, I was very happy when Melika arrived to pick them up.)
On Wednesday morning, right before Nazy got back, I took Arrow to Music Class. He likes to sway and dance to the beat, but he also likes to point out the letters painted on the wall. Although ‘O’ is his favorite magnetic letter on the dishwasher at home, he likes the “Y” and the “S” at the “Yellowbird Music” school.
Nazy arrived exactly on-time and directly from Bellingham, Washington via Portland. Naturally, this happened because she shunned United Airlines, choosing Alaska instead. The Santa Barbara in which she arrived was almost unrecognizable. The normally blue skies were a dreary, smokey, dusty yellowish yucky ‘color’. Visibility was dramatically reduced; it was impossible to see the local mountains.
“It was beautiful when I left, Dan.” Nazy began. “What did you do while I was gone?”
“Tell me about the beautiful baby that you saw while you were in Bellingham,” I replied adroitly shifting the subject.
“She is such a wonderful, happy little girl,” Nazy replied.
“Fortunately,” I thought, “Ventura is about 25 miles away.”
However, although we are 25 miles away, we are also directly downwind. This unmake fact had two effects:
First, air quality was dangerously bad. We were advised to stay inside, but to wear masks if we had to go outside. Most schools closed although..
“Tiger’s school is the only pre-school still open in Santa Barbara,” Melika informed me. “But they are keeping the kids inside for safety reasons.”
“They’ll close early,” I predicted. “His school is all about outdoors. The kids will drive them all crazy if they’re trapped indoors,” I thought.
The parking lots are free because employees that collect the fees should not stand outside. Parties are cancelled. And high noon looks like late dusk. Ashes dropping from the sky brought back fond memories of..
“Growing up in Carteret, New Jersey, Nazy.” I proclaimed. “I could see the 2nd tallest smokestack in the world from my 8th grade classroom window.”
“Wow!” (Nazy was clearly impressed.)
“And, sometimes, when the wind was blowing the right way, ashes dropped on the school.” I replied. “And the cars, the houses, the trees..” I thought. “What memories this ash generates.” I concluded.
“You said that there were two effects of being downwind, Dan. What is the other one?”
Secondly, the wind-driven fire began in Ventura — many miles away. But, the wind has been driving it downwind toward us. So, it is now on the outskirts of Summerland, a mere 6 miles away. It still seems unlikely that the fire will continue to move in this direction, but if it does..
“We can take comfort in the knowledge that there isn’t much left before it gets to the ocean.” I explained. “And I’m pretty sure that it won’t burn the ocean.”
Veracity note: The sentence above was written before I went to bed on Saturday night. In the middle of the aforementioned night, a series of emergency alerts interrupted our sleep. The power was cut several times. During the night, the fire moved to Montecito which is only three miles from the house. This was the third day in a row that the fire has moved three miles overnight. Accordingly, we were on alert Sunday morning. Melika, Tom and Tiger were already in Los Angeles where they had attended a party.. Here in Santa Barbara, air quality had turned hazardous. We decided to join Tom and Melika in Los Angeles. We packed a few antique carpets, some family photos, Nazy’s jewelry and the computers. We went to Melika’s home to collect Monster the Cat and then hit the 101 heading south.
“I wonder if we’re wimping out.” I thought as Santa Barbara appeared in the rear-view mirror.
“Mandatory Evacuation: Route 192 to the North side of Alameda Padre Serra!” The emergency alert system my iPhone proclaimed.
“Isn’t our house on the North side of Alameda Padre Serra?” Nazy asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “We probably didn’t wimp out,” I thought. "We could have evacuated by simply walking across the street."
We are safe and sound in Los Angeles. Not sure how long we’ll be here.
And, finally, I apologize for previous postings pummeling the GOP for a lack of backbone. I was, of course, incorrect. I made the erroneous assumption that they lacked the courage to stand for their principles. As we have discovered this week, they have no principles. They are the party of Ray Moore and Donald Trump. And, if Moore wins in Alabama because of evangelical voters, they will also become the party of the immoral majority.
News Flash: Thank you Alabama!
“I don’t want Arrow to play with any of my cars.” Tiger asserted.
“That’s not very helpful,” I thought. “This room is full of your cars.”
“You can read a book to him.”
“That’s a good idea, Tiger,” I replied. “Can you hand me a book? He won’t get off of my lap.”
“He likes to hang out with you, Dan.” Tiger replied.
They were both very good with me and, to be truthful, it’s not hard to watch them both at the same time — as long as you don’t make the mistake of trying to do anything else. (Because I include going to the bathroom in the ‘anything else’ category, I was very happy when Melika arrived to pick them up.)
On Wednesday morning, right before Nazy got back, I took Arrow to Music Class. He likes to sway and dance to the beat, but he also likes to point out the letters painted on the wall. Although ‘O’ is his favorite magnetic letter on the dishwasher at home, he likes the “Y” and the “S” at the “Yellowbird Music” school.
Nazy arrived exactly on-time and directly from Bellingham, Washington via Portland. Naturally, this happened because she shunned United Airlines, choosing Alaska instead. The Santa Barbara in which she arrived was almost unrecognizable. The normally blue skies were a dreary, smokey, dusty yellowish yucky ‘color’. Visibility was dramatically reduced; it was impossible to see the local mountains.
“It was beautiful when I left, Dan.” Nazy began. “What did you do while I was gone?”
“Tell me about the beautiful baby that you saw while you were in Bellingham,” I replied adroitly shifting the subject.
“She is such a wonderful, happy little girl,” Nazy replied.
“And how was your trip?”
“It was great, Dan. Until I had to come home. But somebody booked me on a flight that left at 6:00AM.”
“I know. That’s why you got home by 10:30?” I replied. “And that’s why the roundtrip ticket only cost $241.” I thought.
“Darius agreed to take me to the airport, but we missed the exit.”
“Were yours eyes open?” I asked. “Were his eyes open?” I thought.
“What happened to the blue sky, Dan?” Nazy concluded.
A fire — a big fire in Ventura — caused the smokey skies. It also turned the electricity utility into an intermittent supplier. The fire began in the mountains near Ventura and has spread to more than 200,000 acres (around 300 square miles).
“Fortunately,” I thought, “Ventura is about 25 miles away.”
However, although we are 25 miles away, we are also directly downwind. This unmake fact had two effects:
First, air quality was dangerously bad. We were advised to stay inside, but to wear masks if we had to go outside. Most schools closed although..
“Tiger’s school is the only pre-school still open in Santa Barbara,” Melika informed me. “But they are keeping the kids inside for safety reasons.”
“They’ll close early,” I predicted. “His school is all about outdoors. The kids will drive them all crazy if they’re trapped indoors,” I thought.
The parking lots are free because employees that collect the fees should not stand outside. Parties are cancelled. And high noon looks like late dusk. Ashes dropping from the sky brought back fond memories of..
“Growing up in Carteret, New Jersey, Nazy.” I proclaimed. “I could see the 2nd tallest smokestack in the world from my 8th grade classroom window.”
“Wow!” (Nazy was clearly impressed.)
“And, sometimes, when the wind was blowing the right way, ashes dropped on the school.” I replied. “And the cars, the houses, the trees..” I thought. “What memories this ash generates.” I concluded.
“You said that there were two effects of being downwind, Dan. What is the other one?”
Secondly, the wind-driven fire began in Ventura — many miles away. But, the wind has been driving it downwind toward us. So, it is now on the outskirts of Summerland, a mere 6 miles away. It still seems unlikely that the fire will continue to move in this direction, but if it does..
“We can take comfort in the knowledge that there isn’t much left before it gets to the ocean.” I explained. “And I’m pretty sure that it won’t burn the ocean.”
Veracity note: The sentence above was written before I went to bed on Saturday night. In the middle of the aforementioned night, a series of emergency alerts interrupted our sleep. The power was cut several times. During the night, the fire moved to Montecito which is only three miles from the house. This was the third day in a row that the fire has moved three miles overnight. Accordingly, we were on alert Sunday morning. Melika, Tom and Tiger were already in Los Angeles where they had attended a party.. Here in Santa Barbara, air quality had turned hazardous. We decided to join Tom and Melika in Los Angeles. We packed a few antique carpets, some family photos, Nazy’s jewelry and the computers. We went to Melika’s home to collect Monster the Cat and then hit the 101 heading south.
“I wonder if we’re wimping out.” I thought as Santa Barbara appeared in the rear-view mirror.
“Mandatory Evacuation: Route 192 to the North side of Alameda Padre Serra!” The emergency alert system my iPhone proclaimed.
“Isn’t our house on the North side of Alameda Padre Serra?” Nazy asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “We probably didn’t wimp out,” I thought. "We could have evacuated by simply walking across the street."
We are safe and sound in Los Angeles. Not sure how long we’ll be here.
And, finally, I apologize for previous postings pummeling the GOP for a lack of backbone. I was, of course, incorrect. I made the erroneous assumption that they lacked the courage to stand for their principles. As we have discovered this week, they have no principles. They are the party of Ray Moore and Donald Trump. And, if Moore wins in Alabama because of evangelical voters, they will also become the party of the immoral majority.
News Flash: Thank you Alabama!
For last week's letter, please click here
Nearby California Mountains
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