Jerry’s kids
I saw our firefighters out in the street the other day doing their annual fill-the-boot collection for Jerry’s kids. I couldn’t remember what the disease was that those telethon’s benefit. At first I thought it was cerebral palsy, but I looked it up when I got home, and it’s muscular dystrophy.
When I first saw them, I thought it was for the California Wildfire Relief fund. I bet lots of people did. Even if they didn’t, how can we refuse to put a couple dollars in those boots that have been saving our hides for weeks now?
I hope they raised a crap load of money.
fire damage
We drove down the freeway today through a couple of the towns that really saw a lot of fire damage. Wow! Awful. It really showed me how hard the firefighters worked to save homes. There were ridges and hills totally burned with a house sitting right in the middle with no fire damage. During the bulk of the fire coverage, I saw quite a few news segments where the firetrucks were sitting in peoples driveways, just waiting for the fire so they could spray it away. I guess it worked.
There were a couple nurseries that had fire damage on all sides, but the orchards of palms and ficus trees were okay. Scary stuff.
Let me just say again how grateful I am that we weren’t affected. There’s still a fire burning about 25 miles from us. It’s mostly contained, but there was a lot of smoke in the air yesterday. It just reminds me not to get complacent. And that I really need to get renters insurance and check out a term life insurance quote sooner than later.
Count your blessings!
Fear of fire
I now have a serious fear of fire. Add that to the list that previously only included escalators and being caught without my glasses, and I’m turning into a scaredy cat. These wildfires really did a number on me. We were so lucky - only one fire even came close to us, and they put it out in an hour.
I’m not sure if this is insensitive to make this comparison, but as I’ve been watching the news the last two weeks - which have been nothing but fire coverage, I’ve felt the same way I did after 9/11 and Katrina. That feeling of helplessness and sadness. I’m so sad for the people that lost their homes. I’m so concerned about the firefighters that have been (essentially) working non-stop.
The only thing I’m grateful for is that there is no arbitrary country to blame and go to war with. But it is crazy that many of the fires were started by arsonists. What kind of depraved person does that?
Anyway, I’d like to just escape. Stay in a beautiful place, like in one of those Pigeon Forge cabins. That would be nice. But maybe not exactly fire-proof :) Good thing our vacation is next week!
Where’s my extinguisher?!
Man, fire is scary. So far, it hasn’t come knocking on our door, but say a prayer for my SoCal neighbors. And donate a little change to Red Cross, there’s a million displaced people here so far.
Useful Links:
Fire Map courtesy of KPBS
Red Cross Wildfire Safety site
