Fire update

I really want to thank everyone for all of their texts, emails and calls - this has been incredibly scary and so reminiscent of the two other major wildfires in San Diego.

I just quickly want to update you that we're absolutely fine. We did have to evacuate on Tuesday and the fires came within about 1.5 miles of our house to the south and west. Unfortunately I wasn't home so Rob was such a champ packing up the house by himself. Luckily (or unluckily) we've done this 2 other times so our safety deposit box has most of the important paperwork and the rest is just icing.  He was great at grabbing Galileo and other important stuff and getting out quickly.  Here's a shot he took as he left our street, it gives you an idea of how close it came to us:

It was chilling, and the acreage burned is devastating. On my drive to work yesterday, I took a few shots about 1.5 miles from our house - all the beautiful canyons are absolutely charred.  It looks like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie set, and it's such a miracle no homes were lost in our neighborhoods! Thank God for those hardworking firefighters - we're profoundly grateful.

On Tuesday we evacuated to our friends' house in Carlsbad - they were so kind to open up their house to us and they were out of town. We had several offers and were lucky we could choose depending on location and what was (at the time) the furthest distance from the fires.  Ironically, after the evacuation order was lifted and we returned home, on Wednesday new fires broke out around the county and Carlsbad was one of the worst affected. Rob was so brave and went back through the worst of it when our same friends' home was evacuated and he rescued their kitty!  We now have a new refugee living with us, introducing: Chairman Meow aka Nutmeg.  She's so very sweet, and even though the initial Operation Kitty Grab was quite traumatizing on her, she's so happy and snuggly now.  Purr factory.

Thankfully, our friends' house has been saved. It's been so amazing to watch the coordinated efforts of all of the firefighters, the military and even some DC-10's to do fire drops!

Mute this because the language is atrocious, but this video was taken a few blocks from their house as some people were fleeing. Frightening, and gives you the scope of how this is right through neighborhoods.

Our thoughts and prayers have been with my other close friend whose Dad passed away Wednesday, and while she was visiting him in Arizona, she learned her home was also being evacuated in Carlsbad. Too much stress for one person to endure, though I'm so grateful her home has been spared as well. My sweet friend...

Our fire is mostly contained, the Carlsbad fire is under control and the other various fires around the county are mostly under control though not contained.  For those of you who do not live here, to give some perspective and reassure you, the other fires around the county are not near us other than just one.  Right now we're keeping a close eye on the San Marcos, or "Cocos" fire which is about 5 miles north of us as the crow flies.  Here's a shot of the smoke from that from our bedroom window last night and this morning and it's still quite catastrophic and unpredictable.  No (re)evacuation orders have come our way, but we are fully ready to go and have a finely tuned list of everything we need to take, including now one miss Nutmeg!

Prayers for the firefighters, all the displaced and stressed people and for those who have lost their homes. Love to you all!  Beth and Rob (and Galileo and Nutmeg!)