I am sorry for the long delay but I had allot going on & some real real close calls... As you know I had to go way off to the boonies for field training. I literally was not a "HAPPY CAMPER".... There was no CELL PHONE signals & I had to borrow this poor guys i Pad to look into DA once in a while... that was until we had to drive deeper into "DELIVERANCE" country.... Yeah...first sign of dueling banjos & I was going to go AWOL....

I say it was not all bad. I saw wild turkey & deer. I saw a golden eagle & turkey vultures who insisted in circling overhead us the whole time... like that was NOT foreboding....

Other  people saw snakes but I didn't. Maybe I just didn't notice them. But I did find millipedes. I thought they were neat! Never did find those cute kangaroo rats that I had befriended last year. I was sad at that fact. If there was any adorable creature that I thought looked like a Pokemon it was them. I called one Pikachu. I found out it was a mommy.

As my field training was drawing to a close... (not soon enough for me)... I realized that all this nature I had come to appreciate. I messed with ground squirrels & grew to love sunflower seeds. I punched a horsefly... it was exiting.

I did become a banquet for ticks & mosquitoes & chiggers & mites. Wow... nature has a way of making you feel welcomed.

Well as I returned home on the 1st, I was welcomed back in the morning by smoke & ashes. The hills near my home was an inferno. It was so close, the ash was like snow all around us. We could hear rabbits screaming & crows giving out warning cries. It was.... frightening. I was in the middle of the SPRING FIRE of California. We chokes on the smoke & the heat literally gave us hot flashes. As the fire rages, My family & I went to the roof & doused our home with water, so the hot ash would not catch it on fire. As I was on the roof.... I saw the fires surround us. I was in tears.... I was going to lose my home. I just got home & it was all going to go away.
The fire department fought the fire, But as one went out...in the next hour another one would pop up. It was like that even through the night. I cried to my sergeant about losing my home & being the Army buddies they are, they offered me solace. So my family fought for our home. We doused our home in water & we had the sprinklers on.

The moment you think the fire was out... another flame would shoot into the sky. ARCHING higher than our home & so close, you could feel the heat blowing on your face. We had to sleep in shifts.. which was hard to do... the orange glows would just shake you awake.

The whole placed had the smell of burning grass & ashes. I was literally up late into the night sitting on the roof, holding a hose, watching my hills burn.

As the days blended together with constant worry, my family would snap at each other for the dumbest of reasons... but it was because we were afraid. As I stood watch over the hills... I took out my sketch book & started to draw... I do that to escape.

Then we were told by the fire department that we were on stand by for evacuation. But as my family & I looked around. We decide to stay no matter what.

It was an oddly easy decision,

So we kept vigilance until the fire department told us we could no longer use our hoses because they needed the water pressure & we had to go inside because the air was too toxic. My sister was complaining about chest pains & my mother was aching allover & was just too old to handle this. My little sister & I had to then take turns through the night.... watching the hills... the heat so hot... we basically were in underwear.

We could not turn on the AC... the filters would clog with ash.....

The ash fell & bursts of flames would plume in the air.

I went online but my heart was not into anything. I may have to leave in a moments notice & I knew I would leave my computer behind & all the art... so I was up saving the art to a My-passport.

I watched the window & when I could not see the hills with all the smoke I went online & escaped for awhile. It worked... the stress seemed to ebb away until another alarm would sound....

Then yesterday.... the skies were cloudy.... The long weekend that felt like a week was almost over. I was hoping it was over.. but as I had hoped before, another flame would burst into the sky.......

Then.... this morning... I was never happier to see.... rain. It rained this morning & rained.... I was smiling & then my mood lighten up... I stepped outside... & almost like I was mocking fate. I lit up my Djarum Black & puffed.

It is raining now but the scare is far from over... this is just the start of fire season...

But for now... it is a beautiful rainy day.... & I will now work on my delayed art & sketches. It is good to be & have a home...