I'm finally able to check in from my daughter's home in San Diego. It was so wonderful to be able to hug her! She is so sleep deprieved as is everyone else in SoCal. What a difficult week...hard to say anything other than we are pulling for those who suffered so greatly in this horrific disaster.
After cleaning & removing huge fallen branches & tons of debris around our property, then retrieving lawn chairs, cushions, flower pots, etc., out of our pool, we jumped into the car & drove south to San Diego. We were shocked to see that the fires of San Diego County burned all the way north to San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. For anyone who knows the area along Interstate 5, the burned area goes from San Onofre to the south along I-5 in Camp Pendleton for miles & miles & miles, finally turning inland near Oceanside. So sad to see. One can see the fires burning eastward off into the distance. I would imagine that is somewhere toward Fallbrook. I thought about you & your family, Shirley. Hope you are getting some good news very soon.
Before I left my house in Santa Clarita, I saw a beautiful pink flower that had just popped up. Wow - nature is already renewing itself.
There are many stories that I hope I never forget....stories of friends, animal rescues, people helping each other. I want to thank Dena (DenaH)for contacting me with her timely information which helped in locating places to board large animals. My daughter was able to pass this information on to her company & its many employees & families at a critical & chaotic time. Thanks to Kathy (Harbormaster) for the advice in helping our smaller 4 legged friends as they are so VERY traumatized.
One unusual story that has a happy ending: My daughter found herself in the middle of helping a young co-worker find help in evacuating many of this co-worker's domestic & exotic animals from her family's 20 acre estate in Rancho Santa Fe. (They have a zoo license & provide a habitat for several endangered species, in addition to their own domestic herd!) What a drama that was -horses, goats, parrots, dogs, cats; and, on the exotic side, there was even a Komodo dragon caged but unable to be moved without a flatbed truck! The only way to get these animals to safety was with the assistance of The San Diego Zoo. Many tearful & frantic phone calls later, Zoo volunteers arrived just in time to transport the dragon & the ostrich (The alligators & tortoises remained in their habitats.) What a time for the rest of the family to be out of town! I'm happy to say that all her animals are safe & healthy though very traumatized. The house was severely smoke damaged but survived the firestorm in a pretty hard hit area.
It's time to send our heartfelt thanks to each & everyone of you for being here for us. I appreciate all of your kind posts, emails, phone calls, & generous offers of help. Will never forget dear Jackie (Jackie) for the prayer over the phone...She called right in the middle of the firestorm on Monday! And, I just know it's going to be a grand day for Marcie's daughter's wedding tomorrow and an even grander "Grand Crossing" for our SoCal clan, dear Denise, Shirley & Kathy. We all have so much to be thankful for!!...what a week. - love, Michele & Don
