Mom was asked by a good friend to write this:
Bob Dacey asked me to put my thoughts and feelings about last week in writing, so here it is. I'm sending it to you just in case you are interested.
Last Monday was the worst day of my life.I am just now unpacking the suitcase and the car. Also, sweeping and scrubbing down floors (even garage) and furniture. Not sure how the dust and ash got into the house since we kept it closed tightly unless someone needed to go in or out, which we didn't do often because it was so awful out. I'm headed to Home Depot this week to get a supply of furnace filters. We are encouraged to change them once a month for the next few months.
I'll guess I will begin with last Monday. I was awakened at 6 am by a reverse 911 call (never heard of that till last week), telling us that there was a fire in San Marcos (about 5 miles to the East) and to be ready to evacuate. Evacuate??? How does one do that?? This is all new to me. By 6:45, three neighbors had contacted us to make sure we got the call (our neighbors are wonderful).
I am the type who, if I can't control it, I don't worry about it. So I went merrily on about my business, doing Monday laundry, cleaning, etc., till Lynn from next door came over to tell us that San Elijo Hills was being forcibly evacuated due to the San Marcos fire. That got my attention. SEH is a housing development just on the other side of the big hill/mountain we can see at the East end of our street.
I got out the suitcase, the cat carrier and started thinking of what I had heard people say they wished they had taken with them during the 2003 fires. You remember those! I grabbed wills, income tax stuff, check books, airline tickets, address book, insurance info, tickets to The Jersey Boys which we are going to see next week (I do have my priorities, you know), the animals' food and a case of bottled water. Oh, yes, my notebook of receipts from things we've done to the house and some family pictures. Although, we still have the family, so they were strictly for sentiment. I had car and suitcase packed so that we could get out of here within ten minutes if necessary - providing I could coax the cats out from under the bed. Louis is always up for a ride in the car, so he was no problem.
By now, I had a killer headache and horrible stomachache.
Our neighbors to the west were terrific. Jim suggested we cover the attic vents to the outside with foil. Windblown embers can travel for several miles and use vents to gain access to attics. I supplied the ladder, stapler and flashlight and he supplied the labor. I don't do well with attics. We agreed that we would all stay put unless and until we saw flames over one of our hills. We kept in close touch all day and, I guess, they slept in shifts. We woke up Tuesday morning and were happy to see that we were all alive.
Late Monday afternoon, Dave's cousin called to say they were being evacuated from their retirement park in Valley Center. I invited them to stay with us and they readily agreed. "They" included two adults, two cats and a dog. Louie was the perfect host and now has a new girlfriend. He was sad to see her go home.
As soon as I got off the phone with Billee and began fluffing pillows on the guest beds and making sure everything was ready for them, my aches magically disappeared. It was amazing. I guess I felt there was safety in numbers. Billee and Joanie are delightful ladies and we kept each other laughing. It helped. They were allowed back in their park Thursday morning, so headed home.
Dave could not work out and we could not let the dogs out for any length of time, so they all felt like they were trapped. Dave gets grumpy(er) when he can't exercise. He gets over it, though. He's back at it this week.
San Diego has definitely earned its title of "America's Finest City" during this time. We have heard of very little looting and speedy arrests of the few there were. Volunteers were on the spot with supplies for Qualcomm Stadium and the Del Mar Fairgrounds where the refugees went. There were amazingly few traffic jams and I have heard of no anger issues. Just people helping people. A bit different from New Orleans in their time of terror.
I guess you can call this my first (and possibly only) blog. Hope I didn't bore you too much.
Love, Mom
Thanks Mom!!
Posts
