Rancho Bernardo Fire

Here are some pictures that Ryan took last weekend during our stay down in San Diego. These were all taken from his Aunt Nancy's street. The camera doesn't convey the ashy smell in the air, nor the strange view through the neighborhood, looking through to the next street where houses and landscaping once stood.
We are so thankful that her house is still standing. She had some roof damage, which will need to be fixed. And the last picture (below) shows the burnt bushes to the left of her driveway, which is a clear reminder how close the fires were to her home (burning through at 70 miles an hour per the firemen!)
It's truly a miracle that her house didn't burn down with the rest of her neighbor's homes.

Fire Update

Many of you may have heard the name Rancho Bernardo on the news the last 48 hours. If you know us well enough you know that this is where my family lives and where I went to high school. RB has lost at least 540 homes to the fires, and one of the worst happened in my Aunt's neighborhood. Her house was spared but the two houses next to her, and the house behind her, were burnt to the ground. My Aunt was on ABC World News with Charles Gibson last night, as he was in San Diego covering the fires (she was given 5 minutes to see if her home was standing and grab essentials and he asked her if he could come along for an interview). My parents and grandparents are home from evacuation as of now, and the fires seem to be going elsewhere from Rancho Bernardo.

We still have some friends who are evacuated and whose homes are in danger, as many of the fires are still uncontrolled. Please keep them in your prayers.

Countless Places

Today on his way to work, Ryan walked down the street where the accident happened this past Saturday. He told me about how creepy it was to revisit that corner, how sad it made him feel. And how if you knew what had happened, you could still see the stained pavement from the blood. Wondering how many spots like that there are out there that we step over everyday, not knowing the history of what lies around us. The countless places where the authorities attempt to wash away what remains obvious to only those who were there. And how we'll never forget. Never.

They say that things like this come in threes. I guess they do.
I went to work this morning and plugged along through my day. That is, until lunch when I talked to another OT (occupational therapist) who also attempted to save someone's life this weekend, her neighbor who suffered from a fatal heart attack on Sunday. When she first came and told me what happened, I thought she was joking. She wasn't.

And to add to the stress in our lives, as if this past weekend wasn't enough to sustain our adrenaline for a while, Ryan's family has been evacuated down in San Diego with the recent Witch Fire. His Aunt Nancy's home is in the middle of one of the hardest hit neighborhoods, where homes on her street and behind her house have been confirmed as destroyed. And Ryan's parents have their dog stuck at the kennel in the mountains that we are worried about. Obviously our computers, TV, and phone calls tonight are all tuned into the news surrounding that fire and our loved ones.

Please keep them in your prayers!