Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Actually that's ash swirling around - I think Mr. Pear took the photo on the left Monday afternoon.  The skies in our area are much clearer today, in part due to the wind being on our side.  The photo on the right is Mr. Pear sweeping the ash off the patio prior to hosing it down this morning.  We let the dog in and out of that back door, and keeping whatever is in the ash out of the house is a priority.

We're fine, although active burning has come pretty close - about 5 miles.  Our main issue is air quality - all our windows and doors remain closed.  Mini-pear and I just drove the Mr. to work and stopped at the grocery store.  We wore our air masks and kept the windows closed, but my eyes and throat are feeling even that very limited exposure.

The closest fire to us is the biggest - the Witch fire.  Unfortunately, that fire has merged with another one (the Poomacha fire) and there are fires to the northeast of us that continue to push down towards us - although they are much further away than the Witch. 

This has been an odd experience.  The wind in our area has completely died down over the last day, yet we know from radio/internet reports that they are still wreaking havoc elsewhere and making the fires difficult to contain.  The skies over my neighborhood are hazy blue this morning.  If I didn't have access to the media, I'd think it was all over.  Part of me feels relief that we've stayed in our own home for the majority of this (Monday we de-camped to Mr. Pear's office, just to be closer to the ocean and evacuation routes) and that the winds have pushed the fire elsewhere.  Still, it's hard to focus on anything but the fire. 

It's strange to remain glued to internet and radio reports for the third day in a row - to be this far into a totally upside down week and know that the uncertainty is far from over.  Last night I still set my alarm to wake me up every couple of hours so I could monitor the fires from the comfort of my living room.  Our bags are still packed just in case the winds shift or other factors redirect the fires back in our direction.

Thanks for your emails and text messages and phone calls.  We are going to be just fine;)