Jennifer Lyon


Monday, August 13th, 2018
Weekend Roundup

So have you all had an interesting weekend? Ours was busy recovering from the firestorm that the firefighters miraculously held back from our house, and dealing with the heat. Here’s a few still shots of the fire, which, as Wizard and I have mentioned a thousand times, camd with in 500 feet of our house and right up to our neighbors. What you’re seeing in these pictures is where Maggie and I walk every morning. I easily posted a dozen pictures of us on this street.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the exact phenomenon Wizard and I dreaded for 22 years, and it finally happened. Our town is a valley, and our lake a natural runoff for all the hills/forest/mountains around us. Think of it like a bowl. So what happens in a fire like this is that once it crested the ridge of the Cleveland National Forest toward us, in the afternoon, a “downdraft” can happen that quite literally pulls the fire in a blazing run right down toward our homes.

That’s exactly what happened. We watched it on TV, and I asked Wizard, “We’re going to lose the house, aren’t we?”

For the first time, he looked at me helplessly. “I think so. It’s over, Jen.”

And I fought to keep it together. We were safe, we had Maggie with us and our family around us. And then by a miracle I can’t understand, the firefighters took a stand and stopped the firestorm. They didn’t just do it here, but in other neighborhoods too long this stretch of the forest too.

THEY ARE HEROES.

I can’t say it enough. There are signs all over our community thanking them.  People hug them when they can get them to stop long enough. We are so grateful.

Otherwise, we are doing fine except for heat-related misery with no A/C. The repair guy or gal will come today and we hope to have it fixed. We’ll see.

I haven’t written. It’s been impossible, I could barely answer a FB post without constant interruptions plus exhaustion. I hope to get back to that today if possible. I’m also going to make an appointment with my GP, and I have to get a second opinion going for my neck problems. The surgeon we saw seemed very competent but I’m not ready to do that drastic of a surgery. A second opinion will help a lot, I think.

So that was my weekend, but I’d love to hear about your weekend and how you’re doing!

6 comments to “Weekend Roundup”

  1. B.E. Sanderson
    August 13th, 2018 at 6:04 am · Link

    That is terrifying. I’m so glad your home and the homes of your neighbors survived. And that you’re all okay. I don’t think anyone would’ve expected you to write in the midst of all that. :hugs:

    I got my edits back for Sleeping Ugly. Final round. Nothing looks too traumatic. I knocked out 39 pages already. So, I should be on track to have this ready to upload by the 18th. I’m still not sure whether I’ll just upload it or put it up for pre-order. We’ll see. Either way, it’ll be live by or on the 29th. Other than that, I watched a lot of golf. Pretty tame weekend here.



  2. Silver James
    August 13th, 2018 at 8:58 am · Link

    Those photos are amazing–and scary. I’ve seen fire like that up close and the fact your firefighters, exhausted as they must be, held it proves how awesome they are. Not that I didn’t realize that before. :) It also goes to show the power of prayer and good thoughts because a whole bunch of people were doing that for you and your neighbors!

    I basically did nothing but veg this weekend. Which was stupid because now I’m behind again. And the vacuum died. I wish people who owned long-haired dogs would design pet vacuums. Just sayin’… Cathy Bissell, you need your engineers to do better designs!

    That’s about the sum total of my weekend. Nothing exciting. Well, we did have a “cascade” event last night when about five transformers blew up. Looking out the window was like watching a tornado come through only there was no storm. Transformer go all green light kaboomy when they blow. Turns out, there was a bad wreck about 1/4 mile away. Car hit a power pole which then fell into a transmission line. We were only in the dark for about ten minutes. Sent poor Boone scurrying to the closet.

    And that’s it for me. Hang in there. Hope the AC is an easy fix, the doctor appointments are an easy schedule, and there will be better news from the fire lines today. Trying to send rain and cooler temps your way!



  3. Viki S.
    August 13th, 2018 at 3:18 pm · Link

    I am so very happy that you are home and safe. I couldn’t even imagine how you and Wizard were feeling watching it all unfold at your MIL’s house. So thankful that you and your community were saved. Wonderful heroic firefighters can never be praised enough!

    Sure hope your AC is now up and running. Your back-up plan for Maggie sounds great. Too bad there isn’t a daycare for you to cool off in too :).

    I’m keeping you all in my prayers :).



  4. Jenn
    August 13th, 2018 at 4:35 pm · Link

    B.E., we will be thankful for a very long time!

    Your weekend sounds great to me :-) Congrats on the edits not being too brutal. They sound like they are in the “good” range of no real problems, just small fixes and suggestions to make the story even better. Hope the edits go fast!



  5. Jenn
    August 13th, 2018 at 4:43 pm · Link

    Silver, I know you’ve seen those kinds of fires. And the topography for the forest made it especially challenging. Today they’ve got it over 50% contained and have really turned a corner. And thank you! You’re absolutely right, we had so many people praying, giving us moral support, feeding us information…we were overwhelmed and so are our neighbors.

    It was NOT stupid to veg. You need a break too. I didn’t take them when I should have, and I’m sure that while it didn’t cause my neck crap, it didn’t help either. Hope you can jump in today!

    Vacuums are the bane of my life, and Maggie is a short hair. I break those suckers with alarming regularity. I wish I could help. I’ve heard some good things about Shark Vacuums, have you tried that brand?

    WOW on the transformers blowing! That must have been a show. I’m assuming they didn’t spark any fires, right? And poor Boone :-( I hate when they get so terrified like that and we can’t help them understand.

    A/C just got fixed! The whole system is old and possibly on borrowed time, but it’s fixed for now. This week is definitely looking up!



  6. Jenn
    August 13th, 2018 at 4:47 pm · Link

    Viki, the repairman for the A/C just left, and it’s running! It was worth waiting for this company. Our experience has been that they are very honest. Now we just cross our fingers that the unit gets us through the remainder of summer.

    Thanks on the fire. Maggie and I were walking this morning, and went up into the hills where it’s safe to be right now. It’s heartbreaking to see the scorched land, but it drives home again, how danged fortunate we all were.

    Did you have a good weekend? I hope so, and that your week is off to a great start!



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