Hey all! I’m alive, and more importantly I’m absolutely flabbergasted at the overwhelming support and prayers that have been offered here. As some of you may know, my house was smack in the center of the “Camp Fire”. Well, it’s official-
The two uprights on the left-hand side of the picture are the chimneys that were in my home. A friend of ours is a firefighter with Cal Fire and he asked for all of the family’s addresses so that he could go check on their condition. Every one of them was a total loss. Estimates are coming in as a 90% loss of structures for the town of Paradise. Basically, the town has been wiped out. As residents, this was the fire that we all feared would come. We thought we had dodged the bullet with the Humboldt Fire of '08, but you can only have some much luck, I guess. With all of the devastation and loss of lives, the only silver lining of this whole ordeal is that it started in the morning. Had this begun in the middle of the night, the loss of lives would have been, well…biblical is about the only word I can come up with at the moment.
I’m sorry that I disappeared after making the comment on @SessionDrummer’s post of the videos. Things have been crazy(to say the least) but they’re looking up. We’ve got housing for us and our cats for the moment and are working on getting a trailer to live out of for a while(It’s been procured, just need to wait for delivery) Once that’s settled we can start to regroup a bit more. Most of you may not know that I am disabled and some days typing can be a bit of a chore. With all of the stress, the grief and the lack of sleep my neck and hands have been throwing absolute fits(Thank gawd for plastic cups or else I’d have shattered half of my friend’s drinkware!) I’m not saying this as an attempt to garner anything, save one: the forgiveness of some of the most helpful and kind people that I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I’m floored by your concern and offers of assistance. In this time of loss, hearing these has made my soul glow. Thank you doesn’t even begin to scratch the depth of gratitude. I’m sorry that I haven’t gotten back to any of you yet-Please don’t think of my silence as an aside or a snubbing. I just haven’t got a solid answer for any of you right at the moment. When I do, I will let you know what all is going on.
Long story short? I’m alive, my family is scattered across the north state but safe. My cats are vacillating between scared, pissed, bored and depressed, but they are all with us. Every one of you that is reading this right now, please do me a small favor-Cross your arms and squeeze. That’s a big hug from me.
Love your family like there is no tomorrow, let the person that is trying to merge get into your lane(This is even more important in evacuations, trust me!) Be kind to your fellow human beings or other sentient life forms(Looking at you, @CosmicTruth and @SmilingOgre!) as it just might save both of your lives(Long story for another time perhaps?) Stay excellent all of you-Cheers!
be well.