Getting Dirty

So, there's more than just dirt--there's soot a-plenty.

Saturday was a fabulously beautiful day. While I really can't justify just lounging around in the sun, there are plenty of excuses to get away from working on the house...like working in the yard! Pretty much all of it burned except for the part right in front. Amazingly, though, native plants around here deal really well with fire. Ceanothus, for example, apparently explodes seeds everywhere. We had about a dozen of those plants, and now there are several hundred tiny baby ones sprouting in the same area.

Also, baby Coyote Bush was sprouting up around the charred remains of its forebears. It was determined that the old skeletons had to go, preferably before the fresh green plants were completely entangled. So I attacked them with clippers. And a handsaw. Our neighbor to the North came and offered me a limb saw. I already had a saw. ("You can keep using what you've got if you want, but what I have is maybe 100 times easier"). He was right. Ah, the satisfaction of physical labor on a beautiful, warm sunny day! Poor J. was inside working and wishing he could be out, too. BUT...

That morning, he went to the hardware store with Bud and Wombles, and came home NOT ONLY with tomato plants and various seeds but SIX ARTICHOKE PLANTS! I did a happy shrieking dance in the driveway (not unlike when we had our electricity turned on) and then had to explain to the bemused neighbor.

We figure that artichokes are basically thistles, and what better to grow on the hill out back? The native weeds and thistles are certainly having a field day. Beating back the tohu has become a daily hobby. I weed while the munchkins play in the yard. Speaking of which--

Here are the first shots of my attempt to get a photo of Wombles this morning. When I called him, he shrieked with glee and ran, thinking we were playing chase:



He rounded the corner toward the back, passing the overstuffed green waste bin and pile of weeds that won't even fit:


While chasing, I finally held the camera out in front of him, although I was still behind:


And I caught him as soon as there was loose dirt to distract him (Ah, the better to play with!):

Somehow, the combo of his T-shirt with the mud-streaked face tickled me.

As far as life details, we are officially wrapped up with our cleaning & restoration company. Whether we hire another one to finish what remains to be done, or do it ourselves, is still an open question. It will probably be a little of both. We are so relieved, though, that it is done and amicably.

OK, I am off to fold laundry...and finish the amazingly auténtico glass of sangria that Jesse made for me! Hooray!

Oh, I forgot...my bridesmaid dress came and I LOVE it!!

Underway

This morning, more tangible signs of progress: this "truck" was chewing up the top level of concrete at the neighbors'! Bud and Wombles were enthralled. We were glad that everyone's up well before 7:20am, anyway. :) It is really going to be fun to have an up-close view of the building process.


We are hoping that our dealings with our cleaning/restoration company will be wrapped up today.

We are having a great day--one of those pristine, perfect-weather mornings (P & B are out with water guns right now, watering the grass and who-knows-what else) . We had a great morning of school. It is just a HAPPY morning. I'm really grateful! Wish I could send you some of our sunshine and soft breezes.

I'm also looking forward to getting my bridesmaid dress from N!! Whoo-hoo!!

OK, P & B are in for refills on the squirt guns...

Home, Sweet Home!

Ash in the flower

It has been two and a half weeks. We've been a little occupied. Wonderful as it is to be here, our homecoming hasn't been quite what we expected. When our things were delivered back from the cleaners (a day late), many of our belongings were still covered with ash and reeked of smoke. We are working on how to move forward from here. It is discouraging at times.

There is encouragement, too, and cause for thanks--not least the constant reminders (constant now that we are here) of how near-run a thing it is that we have things left to be ashy at all. The shot above is of Wombles in a chair that was J.D.'s grandmother's...we have a photo of her in it on her first birthday. Precious.

The more things and signs I find in our yard, the more impossible it seems that our house can be still standing. I do not understand how it can be. I know that the wind was somehow in our favor (Psalm 135:7: "He it is who ... brings forth the wind from his storehouses"), and that firefighters worked very hard to save it. I still don't understand. And am trying to be grateful. For our home, our saved belongings, the Westmont students who have tirelessly helped me unpack and sort and take care of children over their Spring Break, and the neighbor who came on Friday and took a MOUNTAIN of dirty laundry to return it clean and folded. So much for which to be thankful. So much generosity! And when it rains, the whole mountain smells of fire again. I think I still have a lot to learn about how to take the good with the evil (Job 2:10). What does doing that faithfully look like? Any thoughts you'd like to share?


On our first night back in the house, a gentleman from our church brought over some housewarming and other generous gifts from people at church (He and his wife took us in for the first 2 1/2 weeks, and again later). Among them was this collection of lilies (NOT the same bunch from Westmont!). It made me wonder...has someone local found my blog, or was this just one of those lovely little "coincidental" gifts from our Lord? (See 2.13 post). I have never been a big fan of calla lilies, but since the fire they have come to be symbolic of much and have lost their stand-offishness by being wildflowers.


It is so good to be home. We love our neighbors, and can't wait to get some more of them back home! We were the last folks back into the neighborhood that still had a house standing, so now we're waiting on the rebuilds. Early signs of the process have begun--and with the neighbors to the immediate south and west rebuilding, the children are very excited about having an up-close view of the process! Bud in particular... here's a shot of him sharing a doughnut with Wombles on one of our first mornings home. Now that I look closely, maybe he's just sharing the sprinkles...



Last week J.D. walked the children over to the citrus grove to pick some lemons and oranges. Pixie stopped to enjoy the azaleas. Ah, how the sight does my Southern heart some good!

Thanks for wading through some of my processing...

Week O' Mayhem

Maybe it won't be. But we are planning to move home Thursday...Exactly 16 weeks after we left. I am very excited, and wanted to let you know.

The electricity was connected again on Saturday, and when I found out I did a jump/shout routine outside that made me think the neighbors just might think twice about welcoming us home ("It was so quiet while they were gone...") By the way, our phone number should be "live" again on Thursday.

J.D.'s parents drove down for the weekend, and there are now amazing shelves in the garage. There are also a couple of pieces of real furniture added to our collection (Thank you!).



On Friday, we took the day off of school and did a field trip. We took a nice long walk down to the breakwater and had a picnic. I got a real workout; there's a reason they call this part of town "the Mesa." I admit that I required P & B to walk the grade uphill on the way home (maybe 100 yards of nearly 2 miles).



Earlier in the week we watched Obama's speech. I took this shot of Wombles (who applauded every time Congress did) just after Pixie told me "Mom, we're mostly listening to President Obama" (= "Stop talking about the train, already!!").




These photos have nothing to do with what's going on...it's just late and I thought I'd add them to the update...especially for you grandparents out there.

Off to the park on a Sunday afternoon

Looking for whales...or neverland

Pixie's graph will make it up soon. It's done except that I have to add an extension because too many of you liked cucumbers, celery and cherry tomatoes. They couldn't all fit!

I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks,
F.C.