Friday, November 14, 2008

What We Take

A hundred homes.  The Montecito fire continues to claim and threaten anything in its way including a small college in the middle of beautiful but highly flammable eucalyptus trees.  A thousand more families pack up what they are able to fit in their cars and wait out the devastation in the safe homes of family, friends and hotel rooms.  Which way the fire moves, dependent only on the often unpredictable direction of the wind.  Some homes are miraculously spared while others (sometimes next door)  are reduced to a charred shell of rubble.  
This is where I live too.  The risk of getting in the way of a California wildfire a constant threat when it is dry or conditions are prime for one careless or troubled soul.  
Five years ago while driving home one evening from Pasadena it looked as though our house was on fire.  As we drove into the community, we saw neighbors packing up and fire marshals banging on doors ordering families to get in their cars and leave the area.  Walking into my house I looked around.  What should I take?  What couldn't I replace? What couldn't I live without?  I gave each boy a small suitcase and told them to quickly pack some things.  Tom backed the truck up as close as he could to the front door and I grabbed whatever I could and threw it in. Photos, laptops, art and the cat. I drove the truck and the boys to the safe haven of grandma's house and didn't look back.  
Tom (it turned out) never left the house.  In between hosing the roof he documented all he could witness with a video camera in one hand, his cell phone in the other (constantly telling me he was fine) and a wet towel on his head.  
The next day the fire was contained.  Our neighborhood had been protected but others close by weren't as fortunate. I opened the boy's suitcases when we returned home and who they were came pouring out.  The 13 year old had packed only two things; his retainer and a pair of athletic shorts.  The 8 year old had neatly organized three sets of clothes.  When I asked him why three of everything,  he simply said, "I thought it would take that long to get my laundry done."

Blessings go out to all those fighting the flames  and displaced by this tragedy.

No comments: