California is my home and I wouldn’t have it any other way… but these fires… of course the loss of human life and the destruction of homes is more than tragic, but when you love the other creatures of the earth it gets really scary.
We don’t have a horse trailer (though hope in time to have one) and though we have a friendly connection to H. E. E. T. (Horse Evacuation Team/ a wonderful, skillful group of volunteers who help get horses out of all sorts of difficulties..natural disasters, traffic accident, swimming pools, you name it) it is a little nerve wracking when there are fires within 30 miles of a horse barn.
Though the fire danger is ever present each year, the drought has made us ever more mindful of how fires, either created by natural phenomenon, mindless human action or worse yet, deliberate dastardly acts, can pose a great threat. Many years ago when I lived in Santa Monica there were great fires nearby that sent soot and ash drifting into our usually clear ocean air. On the TV news, I saw footage of a coyote facing burning brush on the hillside by the 405 Freeway, clearly trying to figure out which way to run. I can’t forget that image and only hope s/he found a safe way out. Fingers crossed that the fall/winter rains are not long in coming.