Reply #85: A fire started yesterday afternoon not too far from the area of one of our most recent ones

[Hekate]

This is the third in our immediate area in the past 12 months, and being called the Jesusita Fire, probably after the Jesusita Trail up there in the hills. The Governator was being accurate last year when he said that there is no longer a "fire season" because at this point it's a year-round condition.

The drought continues, and yesterday we had a hot wind -- perfect conditions for "human accident" or arson, take your pick. It didn't spread as much as we thought it did, though, and that's the good news. It's still uncontained, and that's the bad news.

The kittens and I are inside with the windows shut, avoiding the smoke that will blow our way when the wind shifts. These days it gives me asthma. Zola, one of the kittens, was just on my lap helping me type. Now she's poking Betsy, my elderly little dog, who is napping.

My daughter and her husband just got dibs on a lease-option-to-buy house in the neighborhood of the Jesusita Fire -- they're supposed to start moving next week. I phoned her and she was philosophical: If it's gotta burn, please do it now. Of course the whole region is hoping no houses burn at all, but it is a densely populated area.

The Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara is always the staging area for local disasters, especially fires, and as we drove home last night around 9 pm we could see it was packed with fire trucks from around the region showing up for mutual aid. It always makes me feel good to see them there and how well-coordinated they are.

Thanks for your good wishes -- you take care, too. :hi:

Hekate