The post below was written yesterday but it's as good a point as ever to start writing on the blog again. I mysteriously got pneumonia out of the blue last month and it's been a long haul to recovery. Because I don't go anywhere, get curbside pick-up of everything, and disinfect groceries at home, we have no idea how I got sick. I'm not near normal yet but am feeling a little better every day. If I feel up to counting the days, I'll start posting my self-quarantine numbers again. But not tonight. And I'm not sure I'll post here every day, but might.
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I had several errands on my list that have been put off for a month while I've been sick. I gathered the things I needed, and headed out. I dropped a return at FedEx, stopped by the feed store for curbside pickup of my chicken feed, then headed to Ace in Windsor to see if I could brainstorm with someone there a solution to the problem I've been having with the seat on the pottery wheel. I found someone SUPER helpful, and we had a bit of fun figuring out what would work. I was going to head north on Old Red and hit the post office and Goodwill to drop off donations, then Safeway to pick up curbside groceries.
But I got to my car and my stomach dropped hearing fire engine sirens, and then they started flying by going northbound. At about that time, my PulsePoint notification went off for vegetation fire on my planned route home. I called Jess to let her know and see if she needed help prepping while I was headed toward her house. She already had a plan in place. In the rearview I saw smoke, and used the roundabout to turn around so I could safely take the video below. I sent it to Bex so she would know what was going on, and turned south again so I could get to the freeway. (It was much later that I noticed the near accident that had occurred while I was recording the smoke!)
Bex called me and we talked as I got onto 101 North. And I started rethinking my plan. I knew the fire was to the west of 101 and close to it. I decided to drop off the freeway and take Los Amigos to stay as far away from it as possible. I kept Bex on the phone to talk me through and I almost turned around as I got closer to the smoke flying across the freeway and road because several cars were doing so. But the route was clear, and I saw CalFire vehicles stationed along the road, so I decided to proceed. There were at least a dozen civilian vehicles parked at the side of the road with people standing outside watching the fire. The fire had burned to the edge of the freeway and I could see the lights of a fire engine there through the smoke. CHP was on the northbound side of 101 stopping traffic, which was snarled as far as the eye could see. My hands were shaking as I drove through the smoke and got to the other side and started heading north on Old Red again.
I decided the rest of my errands could wait except for picking up the groceries, because fire is unpredictable and I needed to be home just in case things went sideways. Bex and I had ended our call but I still needed comfort, so I called Tammy and she kept me going until I got to the grocery store. After I picked up the food, I kept glancing over toward Windsor as I traveled south on Westside. I saw a helicopter with bucket headed toward the smoke, which I was relieved to see was now white and dissipating.
I confirmed once I got home that the fire is contained and they are mopping up. I'm at once grateful to the firefighters for their speedy action and containment and angry as hell at whoever started this.
I took some time to rest up a bit and review checklists. The go bags and absolutely necessary items have been staged next to the door for weeks now. I am once again living out of a duffle bag.
