A Belated Entry About the Fires

I'm sure some of our distant friends have wondered how we were affected by the fires in our region last week. I've appreciated the emails from folks checking in to see if we were okay. For others who've been wondering, we were fine and our home was unaffected, but it was quite a week.

Sunday evening, we smelled smoke outside and wondered where it was coming from. We learned there were fires in the region, but they weren't too close to us yet. Monday morning, Zac woke me up around 7:30 and said we should pack in case we needed to evacuate. My suitcase was still out from visiting his family up in Long Beach over the weekend. We kept our eyes on the news and, while we weren't under mandatory evacuation, we decided around 9:30 that we may as well hit the roads, as one of the fires had reached a neighborhood just a few miles from where we live. I opted to bring along our wedding album, and Zac had his laptop, but other than those things and the clothes we'd packed, we left all of our possessions at home.

We decided we'd head toward the coast and, depending on traffic, maybe make our way up to Long Beach again. Silly us, we didn't even check any traffic reports before leaving, so we didn't make much progress in getting out. During our painfully slow drive, Annika kept asking, "Where are we going?" We weren't really sure we were going to get anywhere, so we would have to say, "We're just driving." If you don't know, Zac has some herniated discs in his back that make sitting for any length of time painful, so we didn't want to be stuck in the car for hours. We turned around and headed home, trusting that if it wasn't safe there, we'd be evacuated.

We watched the news all day and finally decided around 9 p.m. to go ahead and try the roads again, rather than have to wait up all night watching the news. This time, the roads were empty and we made it to Long Beach in no time. At one point we drove past a blazing fire right off the freeway. It was an eerie sight.

I was grateful for Annika's innocent trust that day. As long as we kept things matter-of-fact and didn't convey fear (and really, we weren't afraid--just watchful), there was no reason for her to think there was anything scary about the constant news coverage, the disruption in our usual routines, or the fire by the side of the road.

Most everyone we know around here also evacuated, and most, like us, came back to their homes intact. But one family we know--some close friends with a sweet little girl who shares a birthday with Annika, and a baby on the way--did lose their home. Zac was the one who saw their address flash on the news screen and called to tell them. We grieve for them and ask you, our friends, to keep them in your prayers.