Wildfires

The Santa Ana winds are blowing today. There are 3 very large wildfires in San Diego county right now. One of them is north of us by about 30 miles. We are not extremely concerned about the fire. The likelihood of it burning all the way here is not terribly high. However, San Diego in 2004 had a horrible fire that destroyed over 2200 homes. A shift in the wind gave people less than a minute notice before their homes were engulfed. That said, we are keeping a close eye on it.

The trouble with the Santa Anas is that they blow out toward the ocean. Normally, we have winds, especially in the evening and at night, that come IN from the ocean. They bring cooler temps and moisture. The Santa Ana winds have the opposite effect, and currently the humidity level is between 1 and 3%. That makes EVERYTHING vulnerable to fire. The biggest concern for us is that the winds blow so far and so fast, that flying embers could ignite another fire much closer to us.

Right now, our biggest problem is the air quality. The smoke is so thick that it makes it feel like the fire is just down the street. If you go outside, you get ashes in your eyes, and it is difficult to breathe. I have a terrible cough, and what seems like bronchitis right now, so that isn't making it any easier! The winds are so fast that the smoke doesn't have time to rise in columns, so it just comes straight at us still in full concentration, instead of disappaiting some.

The kids' school is cancelled tomorrow, due to air quality. A lot like the winter weather cancellations in Germany--the big concern is having kids standing outside in the weather at bus stops. I'm glad school is cancelled, because I wasn't going to take mine anyway.

I am sure that I am overreacting, and people who are from here are probably laughing at me because I'm such a foreigner, but I don't care. The schools all have evacuation plans, but the deisgnated emergency center for our kids would be the high school. That doesn't really work if there is a fire, because the high school would be in danger too! They are a block apart! Plus, how do you evacuate that many kids at one time--so quickly? I think their evacuation plans more relate to earthquakes.

Anyway--that's not my biggest concern. If the school has to evacuate the kids, they can't have a bunch of parents coming up and just taking the children. It would make them lose accoutability for the kids, because OF COURSE they would not be able to stop and write down which kids were gone with their parents, and they couldn't remember it. That would slow them WAY down, and the last thing they would need is distractions and interruptions. So, I totally understand that rule. But--I do NOT like the idea of not having access to my kids. I think it is a good rule--I think it is the only way they can expect to operate, but I would just rather not have my kids in that situation. So, I wouldn't send them if I thought there was a threat.

I just keep thinking back to Sept 11, 2001, when all the people who lived in my building in Heidelberg had their kids at the childcare center and they were all at work on other kasernes. Everyone was locked down where they were, and they couldn't get to their kids. My friend N. and I took care of several of them, but the idea of that just freaks me out. I had a hard enough time with the fact that S. couldn't get home, but if it were the kids. . .I just can't think about it.

So, the school district has solved it for me and is cancelling school. I'm sure that's not WHY they did it, but I appreciate it just the same!

This is one of the times that I am SO glad that I am an organization freak. It took me all of 10 minutes to get all the stuff together that I would want to take with us if we leave. I already made a list a long time ago. So, I got it out, and just put everything out in the hall. The only thing I couldn't find was my wedding album, because I had moved it and kept looking where my list said it was! But, I had my hard drive copied to the external hard drive, all the kids "special memories" boxes, my boxes of photos and scrapbooks, jewelry box, medical records, passports and other important documents, and 3 sets of clothes for everyone in the family ready to go. I got my new digital camera and took pictures of all the furniture for insurance purposes. Not that it would probably be a problem, since USAA is the greatest company in the world (I've had a couple of issues lately that they've walked me through--I truly love them!).

This is crazy, but one of the things that I love about S. is how he handles emergencies. It is really attractive if you know what I mean. I remember once when we were driving from Texas to NC and N. was 2 months old. A car in front of us flipped over and went off the road. S. pulled over, threw the cell phone at me (we had borrowed my mom's for the drive) and said call 911. Tell them you are on northbound blah blah interstate between mile markers whatever and whatever. We just went under the overpass for such and such street. A car flipped and is in the center median and there are at least 2 people in the vehicle and they are still in it. Then, he jumped out and ran off. WHAT THE HELL? How did he know all that? He just does. I probably would have known what interstate we were on. I would have had to think a minute to figure out the direction we were headed. But the rest of it??? The mile markers? The number of people in the car? No way. I never even look at the mile markers unless I'm trying to figure out how far it is to the nearest bathroom!

He gets amazingly calm and methodical. He has this determined look on his face and all of his movements seem very purposeful. In the last hour he has gotten out flashlights, poncho liners, chem lights, and who knows what else. He's checked batteries and all that stuff. So, even though I am pretty organized, and had thought about things like water, diapers, clothes, and snacks--he's really the one that will keep us alive if anything ever truly bad happens to us. But, the things I remember will keep us together and comfortable, so I guess we're a pretty good team. I am going to try to get some sleep now, although I don't quite trust the notification system, so I'm not sure how much sleep I'll get.

Just know that we're ok and I'll keep you updated!