The Men and Women Who Rescue Us
Congratulations to Virginia, you are the winner of Candace Havens’ Like A Charm. Thanks for leaving your email, and I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address.
This week I’ve got an autographed copy of Jami Alden and Karin Tabke’s Italian Stallions. Jami and Karin are in my local San Francisco RWA chapter. So, post a comment, you must type in your email address, and I’ll enter you in the drawing. If you don’t leave your e-mail on your post, I’ll assume you don’t want to be entered. I’m doing this because I have trouble hearing back from winners who don’t leave their e-mail address. So please make it easy on me! I’ll announce the winner next week!
Remember I went down to Palm Springs last week? We drove, and we were caught in a horrific traffic jam because they’d closed the main freeway into LA due to an out-of-control brush fire. It took us 4 hours to get around what would normally have been a 20 minute stretch of highway. On the way home, we passed through the devastated area. The mobile home park where 500 trailers were destroyed was a wasteland. The fire had jumped the freeway, and the hills were burned. But what I found amazing was the number of structures that weren’t destroyed. The fire literally burned up to doorsteps, the earth scorched, the grass cinders, the tree trunks kissed with black soot, their leaves sucked dry of life. And yet the houses and businesses were unharmed. The work of firefighters to hold back the flames and save those structures took my breath away. I feel for those who lost their homes in the mobile park, but without the courage and dedication of those men and women on the fire line, the devastation could have been so much worse. My measly 4 hours of traffic was nothing in comparison. Living in a place where forest fires are always a great fear, my thanks to these brave people.
Unlaced is out in stores next Tuesday!!!! I ‘m so excited.
Jasmine, Jennifer and JB! http://www.skullybuzz.com/ Newsletter: skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
I am thankful for the miracle that amid such destruction, injuries and loss of life were minimal. That is truly amazing.
Yes, Terry, it was truly amazing.
I’m always amazed by firefighters, even though I’ve grown up around them. What they do always takes my breath away and I’m always thankful there are those willing to do it.Karin 🙂
Having been a volunteer firefighter for 23 years, I can imagine what these people went throught as they fought to contain the blaze and protect the homes and businesses.
May God Bless them!
My dad was a volunteer firefighter, actually we only have volunteer firefighters in this area. Sometimes I think we take them for granted until we see things like the fires in California. It is amazing the way they put their life on the line for others and so many times don’t even get a ‘Thank You’.Bless them.
You are all so right, it’s a tough job and they put their lives on the line every time. Kudos to you, Estella, for being a volunteer, and to your brother, Susan. We don’t thank them enough. During the summit fire that was blazing this summer, about 15 miles from me, another fire started in the canyon behind my home. Those planes were overhead in about 15 minutes dropping retardant. It consumed less than 15 acres, thank God, but without their quick reaction, it would have been my nightmare. So I truly thank them all.
Wow, what a drive that must have been! I am very thankful for firefighters everywhere, who are willing to risk themselves to help protect those of us who aren’t trained to do so. What a blessing they are to all of us!Glad you made the trip safely!
Hi, Fedora, thanks for stopping by and it was so nice to “see” you at last Friday’s chat, too.
I think we sometimes forget how hard these people work for us, so that’s why I wanted to do this little blog. I will say the drive would have been longer, but we were following these two garbage trucks, and I saw them turn off a side road, then a few minutes later I could see them weaving up through the hills. So I told my sister to follow them. Heck, it couldn’t be any worse than the traffic jam, plus, the GPS her husband insisted we take said that smaller road went through to another freeway eventually. I think we shaved off another couple of hours that way, at least. Thank goodness for her husband and GPS!
OT, GPS is one of those things (like cell-phones and TiVo) that have really changed how parts of life work… Glad that it helped shorten your trip a bit! And yes, it was great to “see” you briefly! Glad your sister was able to make dinner for you 😉 What a sib!
You are so right, GPS is a must, Fedora. We never would have gotten out of there. As we were climbing into the hills I could see that long, long line of barely moving traffic. But I will admit my sister did not want to take the GPS. Thank God her hubby insisted!
And she did make me a wonderful dinner as I was chatting. What a great sister!
I’m so glad it wasn’t nearly as bad this year as in years past.
I love firefighters. Up here, they’ve saved whole communities from disappearing.
Oh, and I already have “Italian Stallions”. AWESOME book.
I’m so glad you loved “Italian Stallions”, Jen! They’re wonderful writers.
I’ve been married to a firefighter for over 30 years, and some of the things he does on a daily basis, still takes my breath away. I am so incredibly proud of him.
Cathy, please tell him from me how amazing he is and God bless him! Did he have to go down to the LA fires? I saw a lot of out-of-town fire engines returning home the day we did.
Hi Jasmine, he used to go alot, but now he has enough seniority that he passes on the mutual aid calls, and opts to cover the shifts for those firefighters that do want to volunteer.Thanks for your kind words, I will definitely pass them along.
What a trip! Fire is the worst experience of all. Wind and water make a mess and destroy things, but not like fire. You will never forget seeing that destruction. We are still seeing many effects of hurricane Ike here, but at least things are fixable.
Thanks for passing on my thanks to your husband, Cathy, whether he’s got to go to other fires or stay close to home to protect all of us.
Yes, Gladys, out here we get the fires and earthquakes, though thank goodness the earthquakes aren’t often. But hurricanes and tornadoes, every year, I think I’d have a harder time with that! All my best on still picking up the pieces.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and didn’t eat too much turkey!