You've Got 10 minutes..what do you take?

Most of the world knows of the devastating fires that have hit Southern California this past week. In the 10 months I have lived here, wildfires, multiple wildfires have not been something I have been able to get used to. Sure, in Colorado there were plenty of wildfires, especially in such a dry climate. But for some reason they always seemed very far away, up in the mountains, started by some careless smoker, or camper who doesn't know proper routine procedures for putting out their campfire. Living in an area that can have fire jump freeways, and pick out houses at random to burn has been a big lesson for me, and has left me in awe.

As I spent the weekend, and the last few days checking out fire coverage, I have been attracted to many human interest pieces. Stories of people who had to flee the infernos, only to come back to nothing. People who were told they had 10 minutes to grab what they could and then were forced to leave the place that they had called home for the last 10, 20, sometimes 30+ years, not knowing what they would see when they return.  This obviously has left me wondering...if it happened to us, in those 10 minutes, what would I grab?

A co-worker of mine was recently forced to do just this. His house was in the Porter Ranch area, where fires raged, and he could see the smoke from his backyard. When he was allowed to go back home, and thus, back to work, he told us of how you just grab odd stuff at random. Not really thinking to clearly, but knowing you have to grab what you can, even if it doesn't logically make sense. I remember him telling me he grabbed a sweater, and swim trunks. Neither a great combo with the other, but with your mind thinking a thousand different thoughts, you aren't sure what you reach for. It has left me wonder...in those 10 minutes, what would I grab? 

At first, I thought this answer was easy. Only a few key things I obviously need. The animals, our important papers, my hubby of course, and that's it. But as I went through an inventory of what to grab, I realized how many things hinge on having something else. For example, my little cutie furball, is the most high maintenance cat I know. She takes thyroid meds, and has fancy kidney formula type cat food for her failing kidneys. Could I flee, without wanting to bring some of this stuff (yes I would know there would be vets wherever we ended up..but would I want to risk not having this stuff.

And other stuff hit me. For example, we have a few computers..but my instinct was, on the list we would have to bring our laptop. A nice little macbook, easy to be portable. But it also left me wondering if I would want to grab Doug's extra hard-drives, where all our most precious memories of 7 years together are saved. I of course would want them too!

And then, there is the little things you wonder if you would want to bring. For example, I am blind as a bat without my contacts on, which I routinely have been taking out more at night to rest my eyes. I of COURSE would want to bring my contact stuff right.

The truth...a good portion of the stuff we would not want to live without..is actually back in our house in Colorado. When I asked Doug if/what he would bring his answer was nothing. I thought it was odd, until he reminded me the same thing "Jess, all the stuff I really would worry about is at home in Colorado." So truth...other than the animals...everything else would totally be replaceable here, and even if I could think of 300 other things I would want to throw in the car, I would only really miss our meow meows if I couldn't bring them. But it really does leave ya wondering...what would you bring, if you had 10 minutes to gather your life, before evacuating?

Mother Nature's Wrath (She's in a BAD mood this year!)

Apparently, Mother Nature has not been getting enough sleep, or is trying to give up caffeine and nicotine, or something, because her wrath has been crazy this year. I am guessing now that I am older, I have become much more aware of what destruction can become of mother nature having a bad day, but this year, it seems worse than some.

It all started in May, with the big tornado that hit Northern Colorado. That one hit close to home (LITERALLY) and left me feeling helpless 800 miles away to know how to feel. Our tiny little town of Windsor was hit hard, roofs thrown off the houses of people less than 5 miles away. I was left here at work wondering what we would see the next time we went home to Colorado, and being concerned on what damage we might have. Luckily, things with our house were ok, and rebuilding, and renewing in that great city we call home happened quickly.

In July (I think it was July), I had an experience with my first earthquake. By California standards it was small, but enough to jolt me out of a safe reality. Very little damage occurred but it frayed my nerves for a day. To feel the power of the earth shaking under your feet really helps to you put in perspective how much power mother nature has over our world.

Then, towards of the end of summer it was the hurricanes in Texas. Over the summer at my brother's wedding, I met some great gals, now friends, who all hailed from Texas, around the Houston area. To know that they were potentially in the path of a strong moving storm (I also have family in a cousin living out there), and with knowing parts of the areas that were hit (after having travelled there a lot at my first job in my 20s), watching the destruction, water rising, and reports on tv and the internet, I was mesmerized by the sheer damage and trauma waters could cause.

Now, here in the Fall/Winter months in the Southlands, it is fire season. While it has both annoyed me and angered me it is November and 90 degrees (personally I am still having issues with it being shorts weather in mid November. My mind can't get out of long sleeve, sweater and pants this time of year. But what scares me more, these temps means yet another smack down from mother nature in the form of fires. As I sit and type this, there are at least 5 if not more fires raging here in Southern California. One, has actually made its way to being about 15-20 miles from us, in an area at some point, Doug and I considered looking at rental houses in. 

Fire has always been a super paranoia of mine since I was a kid. While I knew it never could occur, when I made my bed as a kid, I always made sure to tuck in the sheets on the side closest to the heat register. Paranoid more than anything that those sheets would some how find their way into the register, heat up, and cause a fire in my bed. I am scared of lighting matches (yet entranced by the idea of candles and incense, though I rarely light either anymore with cats..too many possible "lighting tail on fire" possibilities.

So the idea of being near, or around places on fire makes me nervous. It also has captivated my attention these last few days as I read more info each day on the areas in evacuation patterns. I found myself checking the running websites today (even though I did not sign up for a race this weekend) to see if they would be cancelled due to poor air quality. And I watched today, getting out of the mall on our drive back home on the 210, as the smoke slowly circled around the mountains making them invisible, and how it danced around the sun, changing its hue around the time it set from a pale orange to a bright reddish pink.

So far, no one close to me, or friends of mine from work (that I know of) have been affected by any vengeance mother nature has hit us with this year (knock on wood). For now, I hold my hope that she lets up here in California, allowing the firefighters to come to the rescue of so many in evacuation zones, and pray that maybe she has unleashed all her wrath possible this year. An awesome early Christmas gift would be a safe, and relaxing winter break.

Playing Catch...

No, that is not a reference to football, or baseball..but a catch up of sorts. I have been remiss lately (AGAIN) in updating the blog, so this is going to be a hodge-podge catch up blog of sorts. Forgive me if below sounds jumbled.

Making History: So last blog left off with me being whisked away to Colorado again for our every 2-3 month visit. What made this one so much more important for Doug and I to go home (besides getting to be back in the comfort of our "crib") was to get to vote in Colorado. Yes..we voted in the state we "moved out" of. Let me 'splain. Doug and I haven't fully migrated ourselves to California. Still kinda acting the part of transplants to this fine state. There are a few things, important things we haven't migrated over yet for good reason. Colorado is still our permanent residence. As such, we got the chance to register, and go home to vote! Yeah!

I was excited to be a part of swinging my hometown state into the blue column for Barack. While I got stuck doing a lame provisional ballot (long story short, they tried and FAILED to deliver me a mail-in ballot, so I got screwed) we still got to vote, stood in line in fact at the Rec. Center in Windsor a block from our Colorado house. Doug of course rubbed it in that my vote really didn't "count" but anyway, it was chilly chill to be able to vote back home in Colorado. I must admit, as a kid who only knew Colorado, coming out here to California, which is more diverse in so many things...it opens my eyes to my little conservative cow-town. So it felt good to cast a vote for what I thought was the better option, in a conservative state (sorry to any conservative peeps I offend..not trying to spout who is better..just what I believed in.) Doug and I headed back to Cali the night of the election and got to hear McCain's concession speech (or part of it..funny I mention diverse, the shuttle driver in the shuttle we took to our parking at LAX had the radio on the Spanish station..so we deduced with McCain interspersed in English and Spanish that it was a concession speech). We then got to hear the Pres. Elect's acceptance speech in the car ride home from LAX. Felt so damn special to be heading down the freeway on a nice nice hearing Obama speak. That man is so eloquent, it was hard not to be moved!

On the downside of the election day chaos, something occurred here in California I wish I COULD have voted for here. Proposition 8 passed. Again, not to get on my soapbox, but for those reading back home in Colorado, this was the prop that would amend the law here in California to ban gay marriage. There was much mud slinging on this one in the adverts that went back and forth before the election, and I think much of it swayed the way people voted. Not to again criticize who voted which way, but to me, as someone who could have voted in Cali..I would've voted against it. A family is about the people, the love and the commitment they have to each other not if they are the same sex. Many here in the Southlands have taken to protesting and appeals have gone up on trying to repeal the proposition. We'll see how things pan out. 

Marvelous Night for a Moondance? To veer to something completely different, update on Doug and I exploring more of Cali nightlife. An email hit my box about a month and 1/2 ago letting me know that Van Morrison was going to play at the  Hollywood Bowl here in LA. (For those not familiar with the Bowl, it is an AWESOME amphitheater outdoors famous in how long it has been around, where many top name acts, orchestras, etc. routinely play. It is set against the gorgeous Hollywood Hills, where right before the sun goes down you can see the Hollywood sign on a clear night.) To those in Colorado, it reminds me much of Red Rocks, only LA style. Anyway, I immediately bought Doug and I tickets to go. Into the Mystic, Crazy Love and Brown Eyed Girl ('come on....I gots the big brown eyes!) are some of our favorite songs, and I was PUMPED we would get to see the legend in the flesh at the Bowl. We missed him at Red Rocks a few years back and I have kicked myself ever since.

So off we went this last Friday. The good: The bowl allows you to bring in food and drink. Yes..DRINK. Unlike Red Rocks which will confiscate in a major way, the Bowl allows you to bring in your own wine. And that we did. We always end up paying for the the next day..in our slower than average slackcing...but again, I digress.

The concert...eh? And here is where the somewhat disappointing comes in. Van Morrison plays an interesting  show. I have confirmed with a friend who saw him in Colorado, that..he isn't really a showman of sorts. He still is a great performer...but felt like some of the pizazz I expected was missing. He played Brown Eyed Girl..but my absolute FAV of Into the Mystic (One of "our songs") he didn't. And I felt miffed. ALSO...again, can I say...I am TIRED of cell phones invading our world. Almost everyone around us at some point had their iphones, flip phones, and blackberries out. To take foggy dark pics, to text each other (even if they were sitting right by each other) and to generally make me mad. The audience was a sea of backlit mobile devices and it made me really wonder what our world has come to. So the concert..left me kinda eh?

Lastly on our catchup:

You've lost that running feeling? Yes..I am afraid it is becoming true. In the last 3 weeks I have NOT ran, not headed to the gym, I haven't done a dang thing. :( I am very disheartened with myself. Part of it was resting my achy bones after our 1/2 marathon. But the other part was getting slammed over the head with an ugly ass sinus infection that threw me down for the count for over 2 weeks. It meant no running, it meant hardly anything good..I actually even worked from home for two days (something I RARELY do) to prohibit having to take time off..and to not infect others. Damn colds. 

So this week, yesterday in fact was the first real time since all of this for me to run. Headed out with some of the diehards that did the 1/2 with me and tried to do our typical 3 mile loop at the Rosebowl yesterday. A jog that towards the end of our training for the 1/2 seemed rudimentary...and I FAILED miserably. The lungs protested, my knees (rested for once!) protested..and my mental thoughts got so jumbled my MIND protested. Thus..I ended up walking. It left me wonder if I should just CHUCK the running for a new hobby of riding my bike. I doubt it will go that extreme (biking is Doug's passion not mine), but I gotta snap out of the weeds on this running stuff soon. I love the feeling I get being out there enough. Please somehow let me get my running groove back!

Ok kids..all caught up now (HOORAY).