A Wrinkle In Time

As a kid, I was a voracious reader. I would read anything and everything. I would read in bed before it was time to go to bed and after I went to bed with a flashlight under the covers. I would read until I was done with the book and then start another one. Never had a problem with book reports. I would read the book several times, if it was a good one. I read Little Women and loved it. So I got Little Men, Jo's Boys and about 4 other books by Louisa Mae Alcott. I couldn't put the books down! One book I read was A Wrinkle In Time. Great story. Well, let's say, for the sake of argument, the book was 300 pages. Well, I read the first 270 pages or so as quickly as I could. Read it right through. Then, I turned the page. Page 271 was Page 1, Chapter 1. Then page two, page three. It just started over. The book was messed up. It didn't have an ending. The last 30 pages of the book were missing. I never finished the book. That was frustrating for so long and then, eventually, I forgot about it. Same thing happened with Star Trek: Voyager. I never got to see the last episode. Until it came out on video and I had Netflix. Well, at the library yesterday, I found the Disney movie, "A Wrinkle In Time". It apparently came out in 2004. I never knew! Now I have closed that chapter of my life. What a relief! Now I don't have to wonder what happened at the end of the book!

Things are looking up!

The evacuation has been downgraded to precautionary. That's good. The fire is 63% contained. That's good. The wind didn't kick up yesterday. That's good. Three goods. Dad stayed at his house last night, but we are still enjoying the kitty cat here. The girls love him. I found Rebekah on the floor with her face in the kitty's fur the other night. She had disappeared about ten minutes earlier. Soft warm fur. She loved it. And the kitty just sat there. He's very good. And we are feeding him, too! That's a bonus for him!

Hopefully, everything stays where it is supposed to stay today and the winds do not kick up. Thank you, God!

Fire Update

The conditions today are not good. Dad was going to leave last night about 6pm and we talked him in to staying until morning. That was not hard to do. He didn't put up a fight. He just left about a half hour ago, after making german pancakes for the girls. We measured out the ingredients so I will post the recipe later. The girls were VERY happy. That made their papa happy. And they didn't want him to leave. Rebekah asked if he was going to stay here forever. Dad's friend called from Tucson. He used to work for Dad, like 25 years ago, and he still calls Dad to ask questions about Porsche repair. He has his own shop, but still calls Dad at least once a week. Anyway, Dad and I were talking about Chuck calling. Rebekah says, "WHO is Chuck?" So I told her he is a friend of Papa's who calls Papa because Papa is smart. Rebekah's response: "Well, I'm smart. Is he going to call me?" Dad had a good laugh about that.

He left the animals here. He is going to come back tonight. The firefighters were there yesterday assessing the houses up in the area to determine what would need to be done in the event they had to come back up there to fight the blaze. That means they are preparing. The humidity is less than ten percent and the winds will be heading northwest, straight toward Dad's house, at 6-15mph with gusts up to 25mph. Very erratic and unpredictable. Red flag warning for fires. Evacuation order still in place.

Keep him in your prayers. Dad was saying that it would be easier just to go and be with Mom. He only talks like that when he feels thoroughly defeated. Which he does right now. He said he can't live like this for the next two weeks. So, he will stay here until the danger is passed and I can keep an eye on him.

Happy Birthday Blog!

This is my 101st blog entry! It was supposed to be witty, yet refined, bold, yet not too revealing, with an air of understated elegance and charm. Yeah, right. It's just me. But this IS my 101st entry! That's pretty good! I guess I have finished the trial period. And you, my wonderful readers, are all still here! How nice! Just waiting for little morsels to chew on, eh?

Well, here is one.

YOU ARE HERE

X

And this is the highlight
of your day.

Right? :-)

I love you, too. Thanks for putting up with the rants, the complaints, the happy days and the sad. Thank you for still being here!
Before my two hundredth blog, I propose to do the following:

Lose weight down to my next goal (like checkpoints).
Find my contract with the stupid patio guy.
Get my house clean. Actually this has to be done by Friday, October 13.
Jessica will be reading. She is well on her way.
Read five books. That are not printed on cardboard pages. And no pictures.
Go on a date with my husband.
Go out for an evening with my friend Mary.

These are the goals. Let's see if I meet them. I should refer back to this and check my progress.

I probably shouldn't blog when I am this tired. I will never remember writing down all this stuff!

Day Fire

Dad came home with me last night. We got the house as well-secured as possible. Under the circumstances. Depending on who you talked to, the fire was between three miles and six miles from Dad's back porch. That was last night. They said it wasn't going anywhere last night, however, this morning is another matter. The fire is on the other side of the mountain from Dad's house. That's no good.

There was a meeting with the neighbors last night. One neighbor works for the forestry service and another is a sheriff. Some people's homes are in the trees, some are out in the open with no trees nearby. Dad's is the former. Surrounded by trees. We cleared everything off the porch at about ten o'clock last night. Firewood, chairs, etc. We took pictures of all the vehicles in the garage, the garage itself and the entire house. We got all the valuables out of the house.

We had heard a rumor that the road through town was closed to people coming into town. Not true. So, Dad came home with me. Apparently there had been a sheriff going door to door on Monday night about ten pm. Well, if they came to Dad's, he didn't hear them. He has some trouble hearing, so this is entirely possible. We spoke with the sheriff last night. He took down all the info for all the neighbors and they tied a yellow "flag" to the house to show that they had contacted the owner. They are under recommended evacuation status (i.e., time to leave). Anyway, I think that made him a bit nervous. So, we did what we could and prayed over the house before leaving it last night, with Scottie and Grey Kitty in tow. We prayed that God would send angels to protect the home and property, that He would protect the firefighters and that He would send rain (or snow) to douse this thing. Do a miracle, God! Or, at least, use this terrible situation to Your glory! Grey will stay here and I will be driving down to Kris' house tomorrow with the Scottie dog. She agreed to keep him, though she said, she hasn't had a dog since moving out of my parents house when she got married. I think she is not quite sure what to do with him. I'd keep him here, but he is much smaller than our two german shepherd dogs. They are separated from him tonight, but we can't keep him in the dog crate and I am afraid the dogs will all bark their heads off.

Dad has a Porsche Roadster that he has been restoring for about 15 years now. It has been painted silver. He showed it to me last night. It is BEAUTIFUL. It is not completed, and cannot be moved. Client cars, all but four, have been moved to a more secure location. One of those that is left at the house is in the same situation as Dad's Roadster. It also cannot be moved.

Thank you for all your prayers. I am also worried about Dad right now. I think part of the reason he came home with me was so he could get some sleep. He hasn't been able to sleep lately. Understandably so. Not knowing if the fire is going to kick up overnight and be a problem. We got home at midnight and I am sure his two granddaughters will be waking him up by 7:30 or so. He was looking forward to seeing them.

I am glad that this did not happen while Mom was living. It would have been a much different situation had he also needed to contend with her safety. We did post a note on the door for the firefighters that there are no longer any handicapped people living in the house. It has a handicapped ramp on the side of the house and there was a wheelchair on the front porch, that we moved to the side of the house.

Will keep you posted.

Rebekah has a crush

Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. She thinks he is handsome. Well, his wife thinks he is handsome, too. Rebekah has a little crush on her priest.

"I think Fadder Rich is handsome. AND he's a BOY!"

"Yes, Honey, but he is married. You have to find a boy who isn't married."

She's still looking.