Friday, October 16, 2015

Up Close - Real Close

Today was a day to get together with three of my friends that try to spend one day a month together . We just decide about a place to see, a place to eat or who knows what. There are so many things to do and see "in our own backyard" so to speak. It is  always very casual and sans makeup or anything fussy.

One of us wanted to take lunch fixings to our friend who was in the middle of the disastrous wildfire and did not know for days if their home was burned down. Their house sits on 10 acres and five houses around them were burned and ashes were all that remained.

The firefighters were able to save their house partly because of the good "defensible space" that they try to keep around their house. This is their house at the far left of the picture. You can see all the blackened ground around the big trees. IT (the fire) was really really close.
And this is the front porch that I have sat on in the past when everything surrounding it was green and lush.
 This is looking from their house out to their greenhouse that did not survive the fire!
 This is what is left of the greenhouse with the damage. The pile lower center is burned oranges and a couple orange trees. The greenhouse had been filled with organic produce.

 Some more pictures as we walked around some of the property.
 It is horrendous but they feel very blessed to have their house.
They are still is a state of disbelief, horror, confusion and fatigue as they live through the process of returning to some form of normalcy and dealing with all the bureaucracy. It seems like it is the ol' saying "get ready to wait."
 The house is owned by our friend on the left. Along with her husband we enjoyed a great lunch.
And, to sum it up as we drove away one of their neighbors was in the middle of the ashes where his house sat. And, he is the neighbor that called them at 3 AM to tell them the fire was coming over the ridge and they better get out!
I do not think I did justice to this post. It is so difficult to describe what we saw!
It was so good to be with friends and also spend some time with the homeowners.
Let's all count our blessings and pray for the less fortunate and reach out with a helping hand.

Mary

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White Garden 2009
IN MY GARDEN there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The Thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful. - Abram Urban

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