snapshots of the past few weeks

Wildfire Chronicles Pt 1 & 2

the fire in angeles crest is the closest i have ever been to something like this.

yesterday afternoon, driving right around the corner by the house, it looked like a volcano was coming to life in the san gabriel mountains...at this point the fire was still on the other side of the mountains and wasn't considered much of a threat.

yesterday evening as i drove out again this is what it looked like...bright orange flames mounting over the hillside...

a couple of hours later
flames that had to be over one hundred feet high were grazing down the mountains. it's hard to express how huge and terrifying the sight was when all i have is a blurry photo...

the news said last night that they had the fire 10% contained.

this morning i went outside the house and took this picture of the smoke from the front yard...

driving towards the place where i took the previous photos...

i rounded the corner and this is what greeted me:

apparently, overnight, the fire split into two directions and the firefighters lost what little control of it they had. they have issued mandatory evacuations for hundreds of homes in La Canada Flintridge

the most recent one i took, about an hour and a half ago.

listening to news radio, the fires are of course top stories. the fire in azusa is, thus far, 70 contained, and the fire in rancho palos verdes is 60% contained. finally, they mentioned the la canada fire (officially named the Station Fire), and said it is 0% contained.

praying for everyone who has had to leave their homes...

and the seasons, they go round and round

i think it's safe to say that things are overwhelming right now. just not enough hours in the day...but things keep right on going.

Thursday night was the opening of the Fairhaven Show that i am in. it is the most beautiful collection i have ever been honored to be a part of...

there's my painting, down at the end...

gwen. she's pretty great.

here's a video of Wren and Anna singing to her...

oh yeah, and California is on fire again. i have a sore throat and headache from the smoke and ash clogging the air. fun!

i drove to Santa Ana this evening to pick up my painting from the show, and while passing through the area of Yorba Linda, even with the inside air on, i had to cover my face with a sweatshirt. The smoke was so thick.
aaand it's 90 degrees. in november. sigh. oh what i wouldn't give for some real fall...! a mere few days in a row is all i ask!

oh, and i've been painting, too. which is just smashing.

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firstly,

a-hem. updates...

yaaay for fires on the 57 freeway...and lots and lots of traffic...

Chad taking a pool break after working on the house ALL day saturday...

Arec

pot-luck on Sunday was the biggest we have ever had...tell our church to "make extra for some visitors", and it will surely happen...

sunday afternoon naptime...

the illustrious Dandelion Council had a show sunday night...Pip and Andrew were at their hippest...

afterwards. that's when things got interesting...

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Man, civic duty or not, the whole deal of reporting to a jury summons is lame. Sarah got a summons this week, and after having previously postponed twice, she has to stick to it. She just found out she needs to go to the courthouse tomorrow...so she will miss at least the first day of Westmont. jerks.

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