I woke up this morning in a kind of panic. It was Sunday morning, around 6 am, and the “Red Flag Warning” had just gone into effect. That means that there is a “high probability of fire starts with any lightning. Rapid spread of fire possible depending on terrain and local wind conditions.”  Also, the “potential for isolated to scattered dry thunderstorms will increase later today or tonight and into Monday.” That warning is in effect for a good part of the state, friends. That’s bad news for California, this state that I love.

This is not new for us, though. We’ve had Red Flag Warnings for years in these parts. But the anxiety I felt when I woke up this morning was different.  I felt an urgency that I haven’t felt before to gather up papers, to pack a “go bag,” to talk to my kids about what we would do if we got awakened in the middle of the night and just had minutes to leave. Who would get the dog? Who would get the cat? What about their most precious personal belongings? My son’s hand-held electronics? My daughter’s scrapbook from high school? Continue Reading…