13th November

At the one-year anniversary of the Tea Fire, it is simultaneously hard to believe that it's only been a year...and that an entire year has passed. What a year! The rental seems like some part of my imagination, but at the time Wombles had spent about 1/5 of his life there.

Last March, when we were moving home and everything was the complete chaos which followed our messy return (see March 24th post), we said that if things were "back to normal" by this time we'd be in good shape.

I think we're in good shape.

Incredibly, our neighbors have been back for about a week. Someone driving through the neighborhood would see a lot of landscaping being done but I don't think would be able to guess which houses burned and which ones didn't. Can you believe it? 14 houses. 1 year.

I am feeling happy and sad and deeply not profound...and I look forward to posting the "all things new" part of the story tomorrow.

~at our arrival in the gym~

This was when I thought the fire wall would burn around our neighborhood, taking out bushes but no buildings, of course. It wasn't even smoky in the gym yet at this point, looks like. I also thought we would be there 2-3 hours, tops. There are no pillows, and no one had eaten dinner. I was singularly unprepared. Later someone gave us an apple which we shared out; Bud ate the core when I wasn't looking. A woman give them some crackers. Late, late, more food came from the dining hall after the fires on campus were under control.

~the children sleeping in Russell's office (our neighbor, Allison's husband)~

Our children slept through the night (2a-7a) in the office, which they could not have done in the big gym. There was even a bathroom right down the hall, and it was quiet. Except for the incessant helicoptering overhead (a Vietnam vet described it as very like a war zone) and the loud, loud voices within.

~The walk home to grab some clothes the next morning~

There were fire crews from all over Southern CA on our street. I was so moved by their being there.

It was a SB engine that saved our house, though, locals who left these marks on our garage door as they forced it open to put out the flames inside.


What can I say? The students in the gym were wonderful; praying, singing, talking, comforting. The parents and high-schoolers (did you know it was a preview weekend at the time? so crazy) were great, too. I am so glad to be part of a community that in the midst of the storm insists that "all I have needed, thy hand hath provided...great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me."

Here we are two days later, meeting to talk and pray; it was the first time many of us had seen one another, as we were all crashing in hotels or the homes of friends (it was to be another 30 hours or so before anyone was allowed back into our neighborhood).

Bud is at far left, and the Pacific at far right. I remember being overwhelmed with how beautiful this park was. I had not been to this little part of town before. Little did I know that I was only about 6 blocks from what would become "home" in the months to come! Even as I am sad, I can see God's goodness.

Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow...blessings all mine, and ten thousand beside.