Traditions

In the fall of 2007, most of Southern California was on fire. Literally. It was the worst wildfire season in many years. On a Monday afternoon, we received an automated 911 call warning of fire danger and asking us to evacuate. The particular fire in our area was named the "Rice Fire", because it originated in a small area known as Rice Canyon. There were other fires, so many that it was difficult to keep up with the news updates. We waited to evacuate until it became clear that the smoke and fire were increasing, and police and fire vehicles came down the streets to warn residents and encourage us to leave. Our little neighborhood had three retired firefighters, at least two of them fire captains, who stayed behind and remained on guard.

When my husband and I left, accompanied by three cats, we really had no place to go. All the areas around us were being evacuated too, and thousands of cars were on the roads at the same time. We finally decided to head up to Long Beach, where our daughter was in college and living in a house with three roommates. The first night we camped out in their garage with sleeping bags and the three cats. Did I mention that the cats were not happy to be out of their familiar surroundings? The next day we found a nearby hotel that accepted pets. We were evacuated for nearly a week, torn between trying to keep up with the little news we could get and wanting to forget about what was happening. The day we returned home, we were not certain that our house was still standing, but were happy to find it intact and without damage.

Our dear friends and neighbors returned the same day, but were without electricity for some time afterward. That evening was the last game of the World Series, and we invited our friends over to share a simple dinner and the game together. This became an annual tradition for us, and we try to get together for at least one of the games every year. My photo shows the end of Game 5 from this year, where Madison Bumgarner threw 117 pitches (84 of them strikes) and helped the Giants to a 5-0 shutout over the Royals. I caught the next to the last pitch of the game--top of the ninth inning, two outs, and a 3-2 count to the batter. Great memories!