On Tue, 23 Oct 2007, David Brin wrote:
thanks Nick,
Thanks for asking. Cheryl & the kids & pets are with
Cheryl's mom in her mobile home along el camino real,
in a more urban part of Encinitas. All are fine.
Last night I stood on the hilltop behind my home,
looking up Lone Jack Road at hillside lines of fire
near Del Dios Highway. It was tense, especially with
Santa Ana wind gusts whirling in all directions.
Last I checked at 5pm the fires seemed to have veered
south into lower Rancho Santa Fe (2nd richest
community in America). Another finger threatens from
the north but the Bridges country club is paying big
$$ to help block it for us. Nice of them.
With the family cared-for, I put on my green CERT*
vest & goggles and hard hat to canvassed our
neighborhood to see who
had stayed. Then I helped man a sheriffs roadblock
for a while. And again a while later with the
natural
er
National Guard.
Ever wonder what happened to civil defense, in an era
of high techHomelandSecurity? Its guys like me
heaven help us!
And bless you for being there! This is a great example of what it is to
be a good citizen, IMO! I'm glad that there are ordinary folks without
fancy training and titles but with the attitude necessary to just step in
and do what needs doing. I like people like that.
In other news, our local classical music station, which never, ever, ever
has any news on it, actually mentioned the wildfires in California this
morning as a lead-in to the brief weather forecast -- it seems like every
afternoon this week, we have weather conditions for a few hours that would
spread any fire like wildfire (or is the colloquialism too close to
home?), and we were being cautioned by a dj with a very soothing voice.
:)
(It rained recently, but the air is now extremely dry due to a cold front
having come through, and the winds are stronger than usual.)
Julia
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