Hiding Out From The Fire

The fire in La Canada-Flintridge is raging. The house we really wanted back in May...the one I have been kicking myself for not snatching up soon enough...it is in the middle of the burn zone and is likely destroyed by now. If not by now, then in the next few hours. That view from the backyard is gone. It has all burned. So sad. When we were viewing the house in May, the owner kept saying there wasn't a reason to worry about fires because, "this area hasn't burned in 50 years" - to which Mr. Mustard replied, "well, then it's probably overdue for a fire."

Mr. Mustard is really so much smarter than I give him credit for! I can't imagine having just bought this beautiful house, having to evacuate with a 10 week old baby and a three year old, and watching as our home and everything we own is destroyed by fire. I am really counting my blessings today.

I'm not saying that our house in Pasadena is safe. The fire keeps getting closer, and the air quality is horrible. But, if we'd bought that house at the top of Canyonside Rd., we would definitely be homeless now. Awful.

So, we've been hiding out inside to avoid the horrible air quality. Today, we spent the whole day inside with the air conditioning running and the air filter on high. I went out on our porch once to take this picture:



That big tower of smoke is from the fire burning up in the mountains. When I came back inside it felt like I had swallowed an ash tray's worth of ash and it hurt to breathe. It was so nasty that I knew we were going to be staying indoors. I didn't even want to take the girls out for a drive because they'd have to be outside to get into the car. The air quality is really awful.

So, instead we had fun indoors. Paprika soaked in the tub for a long time and "scrubbie scrubbied" all of her dolls and bath animals. Then she put all of her dolls to bed and read them bedtime stories like "Paddington Bear."



Paprika sang her dolls songs, of course. Then she would leave the room, come back in, wake everyone up, get them dressed and start all over again. It was pretty funny.



Ginger had a good time watching Paprika do all of this. She just laid on the bed and looked at her with her big brown eyes.



And then she'd look at me...



All in all, a good day...all things considered!