THAT INFERNO IS A NO-NO!

As I approach our house that's the only time that I was convinced that the fire wasn't in our area. By not much--about five miles across the river. But, if you look at these pictures, you would think that it's our backyard already. Everything is still standing around our house. No dark clouds, no smoke dusts, no bad smelling air to spoil the rather cool weather. We're lucky the wind  carried them into the ocean way, just like it did last year during the county-wide 5-fires that lasted for almost one week. There's no way to predict these from occurring, no way we can say we won't be hit. All we can do is pray and be a little prepared. God bless those who help themselves. If you do good things that He says, you will be save and good hands. Are you in good Hands? I hope so. So, don't worry as I do. We get to live another day. Good deed as good deed does, as Forrest Gump would say.

It is now 11 pm, the fire have scorched 1,200 acres and more than 1,000 persons evacuated from the Juliet area inside  Camp Pendleton. Update on the fire will be posted next.

I'M ON THE WAY HOME, HONEY!

It was about 5:15 pm when I heading for home driving past Highway 78 that I saw the thick smoke billowing into the sky. As I drive nearer to the house I could see it become bigger and bigger. I thought, I hope the fire wasn't IN our neighborhood. One mile away from the house, I realized that the fire indeed was far and our house is safe. From the new Ceasar Chavez Middle School and the new public park at the back, I could see the wide extend of the brush fire that was raging inside Camp Pendleton fanned by the high humidity and Santa Ana wind which was predicted to happen in the Inland Area. I guess the meteorologists were wrong again. The fire was just near the coastal boundary and it's cause is officially known yet. But, it would spread through the night and hoping the winds die down. If not, a lot of people we'll have to evacuate and thus have a long night ahead. I hope they're safe.

IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?

Only last August, Kuya, Ate liz, Nette and I went to hear Mass at this Mission and we were all in awe with the place. It was serene, quiet and quite an amazing place to visit. The background were perfect then, but came today, it was like a surreal feeling of what was really happening. In fact the fire was about 8 miles away up north. And the fire was spreading fast into the night. But the church is safe, thank God, for it sits across the San Luis Rey River. And if you can see, the Mission is still the King. Towering over the fire and undisturbed with the flags showing the westerly wind that prevented the church to be enveloped by the dark, big smoke. Can that be called, "Holy Smoke"? Pardon the pun. It's really a blessing for us that fire is far away from our house. That we can thank God for.

THE FIRE, THE SUN AND THE MOON

Last Thursday at 3 in the afternoon, a wildfire started in the Camp Pendleton training area, as shown near the intersection of Highway 76 and Frazee Road. That's the streets we take in going home. Then, we were not worried because it was contolled as the evening came and contained the next day. That was good I said to myself, but, I was wrong because today at just about 3 pm, another fire started at the same area and this time it was bigger and spread farther into Bonsall and houses were evacuated and relocated into the El Camino High School relocation center. I was driving home when these shots were taken. What's unique about the situation is when I saw the fire in the north, the sun in the west and the moon in the east. How can this be? Is Mother Nature telling us something?

Paradise Will be Lost (Temporarily)

In the twenty-one years we've been living in North County, San Diego, we have seen and felt what it is supposed to be like in paradise, if there's really a place. From the north, there's Oceanside and going south, there's Carlsbad, then Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Carmel Valley. Weatherwise, locationwise, there's no shortage of beautiful places to go like in the pictures shown here. These were taken in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, the southern part of Encinitas, that stretches in part of Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) 101.

Taken on a cliff overlooking the ocean, last Septmber,
these houses in the background are worth millions each, while a railroad bridge crosses the lagoon in the foreground. The Chart House, below, is a favorite seafood restaurant, so much so that even when there's a storm and flooding around the building, there are still many guest dining, just to see the ocean waves splashing into the tempered window glass. And if I have dream house, this lovely house is just the perfect one in just the perfect place. (I could already see myself looking into the ocean with the sunset with a pina colada in my hand. If that ever happens, I can consider myself like Adam and my wife, like Eve, before they lost it all. But, sometimes paradise can be lost, even temporarily, as you will see in my next post entry.