More Waldo Canyon

Yesterday at about noon we were officially evacuated from our home as the fire crept closer to the ridge line above us. I think that with the unpredictable afternoon wind that the storms might bring, officials wanted to be safe and just get that whole side of town out quickly. I keep hearing officials who have battled fires all over our nation say that they have seen this fire do things that no other fire has done (jump multiple ridges at a time, burn and advance faster going down a mountain than when going up, etc.). In a press conference this morning, I heard one fire fighter say that in 20 some odd years of fighting widfires, he saw something last night that he had never seen a fire do. It's weird to me. I just think of fire burning things up but it's much more technical than that. It's intriguing.

Anyways...after being told to leave, we ended up going to the Red Cross shelter up in Divide but they were already full and it was gridlock leaving town. We sat in the parking lot of a bar that we sometimes eat at but I couldn't see as much as I wanted to. I convinced Heather to head back into town so we could watch the ridge above our house more closely. We ended up sitting in the City Market parking lot watching the C-130's hammer the ridge. It was the first time that we were able to see flames right in town. Heather and I joked that we were now pretty damn close to being white trash. There we sat with as much of our personal belongings crammed into the car as possible, with 2 pit bulls, and eating store bought fried chicken out of a box (hey...we were hungry). I told Heather we should take of our shoes and asked if she'd lose the bra but she kept it on. We hung out there for a few hours and began to lose hope that they would allow us back into our humble home that evening and decided to start the long, back roads drive towards the Denver area where we would stay with our friends Scott and Kim. Bodhi showed his appreciation by promptly leaving a shit on the carpet while Dharma opted for a pee.

As of this morning, the fire is now 18,500 acres but the really alarming statistic involves the number of homes lost (approximately 300). This morning I was able to see some aerial pictures of the NW area of Colorado Springs and it is nauseating. One thing is for damn sure...when you are told to grab what is truly important in your life and get out...you quickly realize how many extraneous things you have. I foresee some changes after all of this is done and the word "simplify" comes to mind.

Not sure what else to say at this point.

I hope you are all well.