Fire in Southern California

Here is a picture of the smoke from the Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda fire burning in our county. Mark and I went out to breakfast this morning and everything was well then, but this afternoon the big black smoke clouds drifted over our way. Mark's cousin lives where the fire is burning. He just called to see how things are going. The family said they have their two cars packed up and they are ready to go anytime, but right now the fires are burning away from their neighborhood. We pray they keep doing so.

The winds were blowing hard enough last night that they blew my big potted tree over. I remember when the boys were small a big wind storm came through at night. Our neighbors at that time had a make shift carport they had made with steel pipes and tarps. It was very heavy and they had anchored it down with concrete blocks. Well, when the wind storm came it picked up that carport and slammed it against our block wall where it got mangled. Then it blew it over the block wall toward our house. I remember the pipes were tapping on the windows to the boys bedroom. It scared the boys and they got even more scared when Mark and I had to go out in the storm and dismantle the pipes so that they would not break through the windows. When daylight came we saw power poles leaning, broken signs, whole trees uprooted, and of course there was debris all over. We have not had a wind storm that bad for years now, instead we've had fires. Thankfully, Mark and I do not live near the hills, but some of our family does. My parents and my sister narrowly escaped the fires that burned in their area last year.

Mark and I were planning on going out to dinner to celebrate his birthday, but both of us are sick with a cold, so we are just going to stay in and rest tonight. We are enjoying our time alone together. Oh, here is another picture Mark took of the smoke from our front yard.

We are hoping that they are able to put the fires out soon. The winds have died down so maybe there is a chance it will get under control. Tomorrow the Boy Scout troop will be making their way home from Joshua Tree. They will have to go through the Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda area to come home. We are praying that all is well with the troop and they are having a good time. I am sure the boys will have plenty of stories to tell us when they get home tomorrow.