Drama in the L. C.

Since the landslide in January 2005 there have been many homes red tagged as a geological hazard. Noone is allowed to reside in these dwellings as they are deemed dangerous. That doesn't mean that the actual people that own said homes aren't staying in them illegally. In fact, one home in particular has had several "visitors". The owner, his son, and his girlfriend have all been chased out of it by the police on several occasions.

Why am I explaining all of this to you? This morning at 9 a.m. smoke was billowing out of the house. Several fire trucks lined our street. And firefighters raced about trying to figure out the best way to tackle this "project". They ended up getting on the roof and cutting a hole with a chainsaw, and opened all of the windows. Not sure how they put it out. But they did.

So, how does an abandoned home without electricity catch fire??? Hmmmm....

Feel the Burn

Since I rarely watch the news, last week I heard about the recent Southern California wildfires from Dad back in the Midwest. This past weekend, though, we saw, smelled and breathed smoke. It started to creep up the coast (the smoke, not fire) on Saturday and by Sunday morning ash settled all over our house, cars and beach. It smells like camping. While our area isn't in any danger being about 1 1/2 hours away, it feels really strange! The sun was muted by the smoke layer yesterday and it felt a bit like a horror movie. Similar to the feeling just before a tornado or during a solar eclipse.

In other weird feelings, Matt and I took our regularly scheduled walk this morning. It started a bit chilly in town but when the tunnel spit us out on the beach it was oddly warm. Upon reentering, the air being sucked out from town was like that of an air conditioner.