We're Home

After a week of evacuation from the fire, we are finally home, safe and sound. All of the grass, trees and bushes were destroyed by fire, and we have some smoke damage on our fence, but other than that, everything is intact. The house smelled of smoke, but I put bowls of white vinegar around and it absorbed the odor. We have found 2 rattlesnakes, one near the garage and the other in the backyard. There are tons of lizards, beetles and other insects all around. Guess the critters are trying to find places to go too.

Our whole area looks like a wasteland; it is so sad. Sadder still to think that all of this was caused by human hands. It is amazing how our community pulled together through this, though. It makes me very proud to be a resident here.

Here is our backyard as it looked a week ago (see the smoke/fire in the mountains behind us):

And here it is now:

Front of our house:

How close it came:

A green agave in the midst of the black:

Here is what it looked like out my kitchen window last Tuesday:

The fire did not even reach our neighborhood that day; that happened on Thursday. I can only imagine what it looked like then.

I am so thankful to be back in our home. We are very lucky and blessed, as there are people who literally lost everything they owned. Now it's time to help our new community as best we can. It's the least we can do.