So, I left yesterday morning, with a long list of errands to run, expecting to be gone most of the day. Then, I was going to get home with JUST enough time to finish up my Activity Days lesson and get back to Monterey for that. About noon-ish, my sister (who is staying next door with my parents for the summer) called and said to look out my window. I told her I wasn't home to look. She told me the barn next door was on fire. And, that the road was closed because they had 14 fire trucks, two slurry bombers, two helicopters and approximately 350,000 firefighters. So, I might as well take my time. Great, I had just bought groceries. It couldn't start BEFORE I had perishables in my trunk. Usually here, it's not a huge deal, it just doesn't get that hot. But, it was hot by Monterey standards yesterday, between 75 and 80. Definitely too hot to leave milk in the car.
Keri took these pictures from Mom's house. I tried to convince the roadblock dudes that I really needed to get home, but no go, too much equipment in the way. I couldn't see my house from there, so I tried driving around the back way, down the hill on the other side of the valley. It was closed too, but I could see that the fire had burned the barn down, and then headed east, through my property and through two more ten acre lots before they got it stopped. It melted my pretty PVC horse fence on our street line, did a number on a couple of my cypress trees (although i think they'll survive, actually). But, they still wouldn't let me through. I went back to the first roadblock, and asked how long it would be. He estimated an hour. I parked the car in the shade and Meg and I walked the last mile and half home, uphill, of course. The road ended up closed for about another three hours. Some reporter saw me walking up my driveway and stopped me, but they ask such stupid questions, so I gave them kind of stupid answers. I guess I wasn't exciting enough, so I didn't get any news time. Dad did though, you can see it at the news
website . You can see my house in that video, too. And yes, my giant Christmas star is still up there...it was too hard to get up to take it down.
The road opened just in time for me to make it to my Activity Days thing. I got home to a sink full of dirty dishes and no water. The pressure pump on the well was out, and when that happens we only have a teeny little trickle. It took 40 minutes this morning to fill up the sink to do the dishes. At least we still have SOME water, and don't have to have five gallon bottles to flush the toilet. We just can't go to the bathroom more than once per hour. It fills up eventually. :0) The well dude came this morning and fixed it, we won't know how much until the bill comes. I guess Dad didn't ask for an estimate, probably figuring that it had to be fixed so it doesn't matter. Between buying new fence, a new pressure pump, and plane tickets for Ry and Sue to come over the 4th, I'm officially going to be poor.
I am VERY glad, however, that I spent that $400 to have someone come mow our tall grass. Things might have been MUCH worse.
