Wed. Oct. 24th
We woke up this morning and of course turned the TV on immediately
(finally Tom has an excuse). Wow were we excited to see the winds have changed directions and instead of blowing southwest (straight at our neighborhood) the wind was now blowing away from us in the northeast direction. Our mandatory evacuation was lifted and we were able to go home. We were packed and headed home in under 5 minutes. The fires are still only about 5 miles away but with the wind change the city officials (who have done a phenomenal job) felt we were in the safe zone.
It is so good to be home legally. We did make a few illegal trips in to get important items like genealogy, insurance papers and my PILLOW!! It's a weird feeling to sneak into your dark disserted neighborhood. A disaster always brings greater appreciation for the "things" you have. We are grateful to have a home to come home to. We will be more prepared the next time and as I create lists of what we should have taken, where important things are (like my passport that is still AWOL) and what items are good to have on hand I will share with anyone interested.
We have some clean up to do but the house does not smell of smoke which I feared it would. The front door and laundry room door have small piles of ashes inside (proof we can run our kerosene heater without a worry), a bathroom window got left open and the bathtub and toilet are full of ashes, the outside of the house and lawn furniture etc. are filthy so we have a little clean up but nothing to complain about.
Thanks for your prayers and concern. Please keep the rest of So. Cal in your prayers.
PS I left the important papers and a suitcase packed and in our car so we are ready for a quick get away if necessary.
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