2003 Story Set
| Date: October 28, 2003 All day Sunday I wrote on Mary-Elizabeth - the start of a novel. I get inspired, you see, when I go to my writing group once a month on Saturday. This time, I had taken my son along. I learned how to judge an entry. Good. I am set to evaluate the Carpathian - an erotic sensual woman's fiction piece that has readers swigging vodka! I have a hot vampire hero! Then, I am to submit it. I've been about to do that for about two months. So Monday, I was up bright and early. Going to write. Going to pay the rest of the bills. Going to submit my story. Going to pay property taxes on my two houses. Mail those Halloween cards. And --- there is a fire in Scripps Ranch! Egad! I didn't know that! And --- it's burning houses on Avenida Magnifica - MY STREET!!! The words "Scripps Ranch" and "Avenida Magnifica" were spoken on my TV set!~ 500 miles away! I started screaming for my son. Channel hopping for news. Fire, fire everywhere. I have a tenant. I call property management. The receptionist is there. The agent for my house has her own house in trouble! No one has information! I am a wreck by 10AM. Phone calls - flipping channels - reading websites. Frantic! The tenant has been evacuated. I never had to evacuate. Almost - but not. I break all rules because, with the news that my son is dying, And the remote possibility of saving his life in a high-risk operation (bone marrow transplant - like any other transplant) and coping with a weekly emergency with him, I am a wreck. And I am looking for work on top of all this! I have an interview tomorrow. Another contract job - but that's OK. That will carry me through Christmas. The jobs are also popping up. Still apple-picking. And still limited. (Must have many jobs for us older folks to get snapped up.) But more than before! And now placement people are showing interest. That's a good sign. The end of the job drought is near! And my CISCO Stock has about doubled! Wish I had bought more! So, at 10AM, I broke the rules. I had a glass of red wine and sat in the spa for 30 minutes. Break the tension. Calm me down. Today (Tuesday) I got into a website that had photos. My son had screaming pains, a symptom of his condition, and missed college. I took him for coffee - he could not walk in. And I took him home. He was literally in screaming pain and did some - screaming. He studied C++. He emailed fellow students. (Once he could sit up.) I looked at photos, dozens, of my old neighborhood. And they had a list of burned houses. My friends and acquaintances from years and years of Boy Scouts (Troop 616) and Cub Scouts (Pack 616) and living there (1984-1995) have lost everything. Every house down below me - the street behind me and between me and Pomorado Road - burned. A few tile-roof houses escaped. Damn few. Rubble! Some just ashes on the ground. Others are burned out hulks. My house remains absent from the destroyed lists. GOOD! The answering machine for the tenant is still picking up! GOOD! I look at the fire's path and shudder. South Pomorado Road was the snob-hill area. You were not quite as good unless you lived there. I lived North of Pomerado. Thank God! I am in the older area. Built in 1984. When I bought it. I guess that's the better area now! Actually, it's now the only area! Literally hundreds of houses went up. (327 structures) Whole streets. The fire cut a swath. People had literally MINUTES to evacuate. I went to my job interview (need to go back on Thursday) before I know about all this. But when I am back later - they have updated the list and I am still safe. I told Property Management that not this week-end (Halloween) but next week-end I will come down. Prob on Friday and drive back Sunday. Need to check things. Trees that need trimming. Roof for ember burns. Back deck needs fire retardant. See what else needs doing. Still looking for my poor tenant. Fire still going but it has moved into the city proper and is headed for Mexico. Even the San Diego Zoo scrambling to protect its animals. Cops and firemen have also lost their homes. One cop was working in Bermuda shorts and a shirt, boots and his gun. He had no house. Firemen are drop-dead exhausted. Lynching parties are being set up for the arsonists. I'll supply the rope ------. Postscript: My house has fire-damaged fences and scorched tree as the fire raced up the back bank. But I had planted ice plant - and much of it was still there. Ice plant stops ground fires. Did its job! And I had planted Bottle Brush on one side. Bottle Brush (loved by hummingbirds) provides low fuel. One of my former tenants - a dingbat - had pruned severely back my other low fuel plants. One fence without Bottle Brush is 1/3 burned in the corner. One fence on the other side is scorched. The tall trees are scorched. The chain link fence had its black plastic coating melted (Put up because your eye ignores it as so we had a view and coyote protection.) I will need to climb up and check the roof. A bevy of contractors have been rounded up for estimates and work. They are already back-logged 7-8 weeks! |
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