Seriously, Enough Is Enough

O.K, if you read my last post then you might understand how forest fires fill me with fear to my toes. We got back from a smoke filled visit to Tahoe three days ago. I live in a very rural, currently very dry environment. When I was 19 my home was flooded and I lost almost everything. It was an experience I don't wish to repeat. So now the threat of forest fires seems quite high, and I have that common belief that it won't happen to me, couldn't happen twice in one lifetime.

Then today I picked up my son from his friend's house and noticed a lot of smoke towards my house. As we get closer I see three firefighting planes and a helicopter. There is a pond right by my house. So the son and I stop to take a few pictures. Me torn between my need to evacuate and my need to get some great pictures. Guess which urge won!!!

This helicopter is scooping up water for the fire that is only a half mile away... I know, I should be putting all my photo albums in boxes and locating my cats!

Anyone who has been within 30 feet of a helicopter knows they generate this amazing wind called rotor wash. All I can say is thank God I had my bathing suit on! This pilot had a great sense of humor. After he filled his basket with water, he got an evil gleam in his eye and headed straight for son and I! The basket cleared us by about 15 feet dripping water, not to mention the a fore mentioned rotor wash. I'm still picking stickers out of my cover-up! Son got blown to the fence! But you know what, I feel like a real blogger now!

Yikes here he comes! I would have more pictures after the close encounter, but frankly I was trying to protect my camera and my son.... no, not in that order, really!

Completely recovered, I decided it might be a good idea to go home before the attack helicopter returned. I need to make a list of what to take in the case of an evacuation, my son just brought his PS2 along with two controllers and put them on the table! I always knew where his priorities were. Who says I don't know how to have a good time on a Friday night! The ironic thing is my hubby, the 'firefighter' is at work an hour away.

I would love to hear your comments about what you would take if you had to evacuate?

Burning Vacations

Last week I ran into a friend at Costco. She said that her family was going to Lake Tahoe for a week, they have a large two bedroom suite and asked if we would like to come by for a few days. After a day of schedule checking hubby and I decided absolutely!

So Sunday we packed our car, got our boat and headed off for a fun two night stay at beautiful south shore! As we got close to our destination, being of extreme intelligence, we figured something was seriously wrong.

Well, this isn't good and it just got worse!

We came through about 2 hours after the fire started and it was pretty close to the highways and towns. They closed the highway very soon after we got into town. It was great to visit with our friends and we did have a really good time. A lot of the restaurants and businesses were closed due to smoke. I sat by the pool and brushed the ash off me from time to time or just jumped into the hot tub to rinse. Seriously, it is very sad. Over 200 homes have been lost so far and we met many locals who had friends or family who lost homes.

We took our boat out on the lake and passed by the area of the fire.

From there we went into Emerald Bay and took a little detour on the island there, very pretty, although the smoke kept everything very hazy!

I love the rugged and weathered look of the trees in the Sierra's. This one has so much life in it... very beautiful!

We made it home on Tuesday afternoon just after the fire flared up again. We had a good time with our friends despite inhaling large chunks of smoke and ash! But... it is so good to be home! A last parting shot... one of my favorite birds, the Canadian Goose! They kept us company in Emerald Bay.

Cut em loose!

I recently had a moment of discovery. Oprah likes to call them 'aha' moments. It has been coming on gradually. My children will be 8 and 11 years old this summer and I still cuddle, coddle and treat them as though they just got out of pampers. In the past month I have realized that they need more independence, responsibility and encouragement to problem solve on their own.

There have been times in the past month where I realize that as a 'Stay At Home Domestic Goddess' I have been doing too much, which does not help those around me to learn to conquer the world. Child #1 will sit down next to me and ask me to get her a glass of water. Today Child #2 put a pot of boiling water on the stove, brought me my apron and asked me to 'take over' preparing the mac-n-cheese. He will be in his room building Lego's.

I love my family and realize that I have chosen this path. I love my life, but my wake up call came this morning as I snuck out to the porch with a book for a few minutes of 'me time'. Within minutes my fat orange cat waddled up to me and began licking my hand, then rubbing against it. Dear God, I am now giving my mangy cat a bath. Will this madness never end?

There must be a 12 step program out there for me. I would love to look it up on line, but Child #2 is calling out for me to give 'Dad' a hair cut. Do not laugh, "There but for the grace of God..." Oh, never mind! On the bright side, I can start blogging more now that I won't be so 'Busy'!!!

Crafty Fun-Day Monday

Today Karmyn over at 'Dreaming What Ifs' is hosting Fun-Day Monday where people get to show their crafty side. My current passion is knitting. Here is a fun hat I made for a dear friend this year. As I am short on time today, I'll just post and run! Have a great day everyone!!!

Cursed?

I thought today I would write a post about some very unsettling things that have been occurring whenever I am around. This all took place in about a 4 week period. It is hard to recall exactly when it began as I wasn't really paying attention, back then anyhow. The first episode I can remember with any clarity took place in a grocery store. I was pushing my cart innocently enough when a woman very near to me fulfilled every grocery manager's nightmare, she slipped on some spilled wet product on the floor. She went down hard, completely sprawled out and dazed. Being the nurse, I went to her and ascertained that nothing was broken. I left as the manager was offering to help, probably with free groceries for a year.

It is getting hard to remember the order of these events, but closely following the above episode, my family and I took our boat to a near by lake. After some very successful fishing, my hubby was able to pull up to the boat ramp for me to get off but he had to wait behind another boat that was being loaded onto a trailer. The man on the boat ahead of us jumped off his boat and was moving quickly as he secured everything, as he got close to me he slipped and went down hard, on his face. I ran to him as he was trying to get up, again, a hard fall but not too injured, and he resumed his work.

Shortly after the boat trip, I entered a Cardio-Tennis class. It was fast paced and fun. About ten of us students were running back and forth hitting balls to music and having a great time. Until one gentleman slipped on the court and skidded on his face into the bench. I helped him up to the bench, and my very clever daughter ran to the car for my first aid kit as these mishaps are definitely escalating in severity. After sopping up lots of blood and cleaning his wound which I thought could use a couple stitches, I started to realize there was an unfortunate pattern going on here.

The next event happened on a previously posted hike, see Happy Hikers. My friend Janet took a hard fall on our hike and thankfully was not hurt. So I told her about the weird accidents happening around me. I might as well have said I am psychic and I have the plague. My companions all took a step back. Like that would help, I could still see them! LOL!

There is more! One day I went to my favorite nursery to feed my gardening addiction. I love to be in this place, wandering among the plants, it is like meditation to me. On this day I wanted to buy a rose bush and was in that part of the nursery when I heard a fire truck in the distance, it kept getting closer and closer. Then it pulled into the nursery, it came right up to where I was standing, the crew all jumped out, and were led into the main building. I didn't know what was going on, but decided to stay outside as I contemplated if this was part of my new cursed pattern. After about 15 minutes I wanted to leave, but needed some information on the plants to make a selection. An ambulance had arrived shortly after the fire truck and I figured they must be almost done inside, so I decided to go in for some rose help. Big Mistake.

Once in the building I saw an elderly woman on the gurney being wheeled to the ambulance, she looked pretty good, awake and talking. So I went to the help counter and an employee asked if she could help me, remember this, she asked me! I told her what I needed and she said there was a lot of rose info, and would I follow her. I did and I was right behind her as she tripped over a basket on the floor, I moved to try and stop her fall, but could not. She did a header into a metal cabinet and dropped to her knees with her hands on her face. There was blood, lots and lots of blood. I saw some paper towels and asked someone to get them. Told her I was a nurse and she let me help her. When she removed her hands she was cut practically from ear to ear, like a scalping, to the bone. I asked for someone to get the firefighters back in the building if they were still there. They were and came in, I told them to get another ambulance, and this one firefighter very condescendingly said, "It's O.K., face wounds bleed a lot." I took my hands and towels off her face for the expert to see, and heard the same firefighter screaming for her companions to get another ambulance.

It arrived quickly, and turned out to be one of my friends, I told him what happened. Then an amazing thing happened. This poor woman so covered in blood she could not see, starts pointing her finger and tells me the information on roses is on the counter over there. What a woman!!!! I left my favorite place with no purchases, a firetruck and two ambulances in the parking lot. I went straight home before someone got killed! I later found out she needed 96 stitches, and the woman on the first ambulance was her mother!

A short time later I was having lunch with one of my dearest friends at an outdoor cafe. I told her all these strange things that have been happening. Then there was a horrible crashing sound, screeching, glass breaking. It is right behind me, my chair is the closest to the accident, no surprise there. Everyone jumped up, except me. My friend, a Nurse Practitioner, went to see if anyone was hurt. She returned shortly as there were no injuries. She said the weirdest part was that I never even turned around to look. I told her I am getting a little freaked. We ate lunch and the accident was cleared by the time we left. I never saw what happened, didn't want to.

I am pleased to report that it has been three weeks and nothing has happened! Perhaps the curse has been lifted. My friends are still a little nervous to be with me. Understandably so!!