Smokey in Los Angeles . . .

These pictures were taken about 5 years ago when we were closer to a fire than we are now. We were about 3-5 miles from the fire that caused this smoke and we had large pieces of ash falling all over our house and yard. We were cleaning it out of places and nooks and crannys for weeks. It was very hard to breathe. It was so thick it made you nauseous. We all wore masks. Our dogs were nervous. We packed our most important stuff up and put it all in a pile in the garage, ready in case we had to evacuate. It was very scary. I remember we lost power too for awhile so it was unnerving to not know what all was going on. A couple of very long days. I think of those things and I wonder, truly wonder, how our brave firefighters do what they do. They are the definition of heroes, saviors really.

Today, fortunately for us, there are not such dramatic pictures to take from our own little place on the earth. But even being a good 20 miles or more from the closest fire, we have a blanket of smoke around us - almost like fog. It is hot and nothing moving here, no wind, and the smoke is already giving some of us headaches. No ash falling. Even though we are not in any danger, we are just a bit, a tiny bit on edge. It's hard to go on with a normal day somehow. It is a very scary and sad situation for so many this weekend. I feel so badly for those that have lost their homes or fear they might. I feel for those packing up their stuff just in case and having everything covered in ash. My heart aches for those that have nothing left but ash.

We heard last night from a guy that just moved here in June and not only felt our moderate earthquake this last summer but just got evacuated for the second time in two months. He says he'll give CA one more chance. If anything else happens, he's movin' out. I don't blame him. Say your prayers.