(no subject)

[threeplusfire]

If you just glanced, you might think it was only a weird low cloud hugging the horizon. But it is actually smoke. I'm so anxious. My fear is that some moron out there firing up the grill will spark a fire in my neighborhood. We made a list on the white board of what to throw in the cars, things like the cats and the backup hard drive. The uncertainty of it all is hard on my head. My mind won't stop turning things over. The pictures don't help.

When I look at the radar, you can see all the clouds and moisture drifting away west and east. We remain, lonely and dry. The only cloud on the map over Texas is actually the smoke fromt he Bastrop fires.

In more mundane news, Pumpkin destroyed my kitchen mat and now I need to find another. Of course they don't make the one I had anymore. Alas pears.

Comments

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

This is so horrible! I'm glad you have a plan, but argh. Stay safe!

[splix.livejournal.com]

:( I feel terrible for everyone in your neck of the woods. Stay safe.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetie. I would be so anxious in your shoes. *hopes and prays your neighborhood stays safe and fire free*

[horosha.livejournal.com]

Damn! Fuckin' crazy! Hope you guys stay safe and untouched.

[eclipsedeyes.livejournal.com]

That really sucks - I'm very sorry. I'm imagining with the drought going on so long the state is pretty combustible. Stay safe, and look after each other!

Don't drive unless you know there's a safe route out of your neighbourhood.

Do you have a checklist like this?
http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/fire_safety/surviving_a_bushfire.jsp

[brienze.livejournal.com]

I made a list, too. The Leander fire won't get anywhere near us (and it's going the wrong direction now to affect Ed & Michelle), but we're only four blocks away from all that undeveloped land on the right side of Anderson Mill heading up into Cedar Park. It seems like the naturally-occurring fires start in the brush, so I feel better having a plan.

Assuming I'd have five minutes to round stuff up, my list has on it (in addition to the cats and the external hard drive) my grandmother's ring, the Brian Froud and the Thomas Canty original artworks, the quilt my aunt made for us, and my Wollmeise yarn.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear it's moving away from everyone I know. This thing sucks so much.

[in-thy-bounty.livejournal.com]

While the apocalyptic flames are frightening to look at, I find the thought of making a list like that even more terrifying. I will continue to hope for a swift end to your drought. Now that stuff is getting destroyed, the situation is starting to make the news over here.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It's hard and weird. I sat here for a long time last night, thinking about whether or not it would be worth the minutes and effort to take down the two enormous Soviet posters I have hanging in my living room. (Seen here for reference) They are precious to me only, probably not worth anything, big and heavy and awkward to carry. Should I try to save those, or should I save the smaller things? My first edition JG Ballard, or my signed Peter Hamilton? The books I brought home from Prague? Can I carry all my Squishables and get them in the car quickly? How much sentimental stuff should I try to grab or should I just focus on the practical instead? I decided I wouldn't grab the wedding photo because we have digital copies, but should I take the photo of the castle in the woods I took or the photo of my great grandmother? Should I grab Mike's guitars?

[in-thy-bounty.livejournal.com]

That isn't a National Geographic map in the middle is it? I have an old 1980s double-sided National Geographic map with 'The Peoples Of The Soviet Union' on the reverse side. I don't suppose it's the same one though.
Obviously it's impossible to say what you would do until you are actually faced with such a situation, but sitting here in comfort and absolutely no danger I don't think I would worry much about saving my things, as much as I love them. Objects can be replaced, and even if not, you have the memory of it, which is sometimes just as real.
Though we'd have to take Leo's favourite blanket of course!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

It's actually a Soviet map, from the late 1920s maybe? I had to hunt a bit to find one to give to Mike as a Valentine's present.

In the course of thinking about what to put on the actual list, I realized there's actually so little I would want to get aside from Mike & the cats. My list reads backup hard drive, file box (where all our important documents are), xanax, squishables.

[in-thy-bounty.livejournal.com]

Oh well that tops mine by quite some way!

Saving our animals alone would be a nightmare in an emergency - how do you bundle three cats, two hens and a hamster (and hopefully about to extend to two rabbits) into a car without them attacking each other? And that's without tackling the fish!

We should really have backup hard drive, but from the reviews it seems impossible to find one that is suitably reliable.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I think that's when I knew I was in love, hunting down that map.

Hopefully you will never need to play animal tetris to get everyone packed into your car. Sounds like you would need a few sturdy crates.

The backup drive we are using right now is Iomega. So far, so good.