The wind continues to howl. It’s got to be 25-35 steady with gusts to 50+, if not more.
But there is no known fire near us.
The air has more than just a whiff of smoke and ash to it, along with the calling card of a particularly pissed off skunk somewhere nearby upwind. They’ve been telling us to watch out for wildlife displaced into urban areas by the destruction of their natural habitat. Perhaps that’s why the skunk is pissed off. Can’t say that I blame him.
But they’ve taken down the police barricades two blocks away from home.
It’s gotten cold, which I guess is good, but it’s staying dry, which is horrible. There were spots this weekend reporting relative humidity in the single digits for days on end – THAT’s a huge problem when fighting brush fires. One report I saw had a reading of 1% relative humidity! That’s rivaling what it would be like on Mars.
But as of about 20:30 tonight, the mandatory evacuation order for all of the neighborhoods on the west side of Valley Circle have been lifted.
So tonight I started standing down. I started unpacking the cars. I started putting all of those valuable pictures, documents, video tapes, jewelry, and priceless memories back away in the house instead of leaving them pointing out of the driveway, ready to be scrambled like a couple of SAC bombers when the ICBMs start streaming over the Pole.
It’s time to stand down.
And maybe get some sleep.
