Surrounded-- By Fire & My Little Treasures

I don't have any pictures of the blood-red sun & the blackened sky of yesterday or the neverending images of canyons & homes up in flames or threatened that filled the news stations today--I just didn't think to capture it! I have been just amazed & shocked & it just hasn't felt real--that this was happening in our valley! It still doesn't quite feel real. But, I know that to many it is VERY real since they had to quickly gather their families & precious belongings/valuables & evacuate from their homes --or were evacuated at some point today because of these amazing wild fires. We have been in "hibernation" mode all day & have felt very safe & "far" away from danger--while all around us fires were burning! Surrounded!Today, the kids were restless, wanting desperately to play outside while we kept tuning into the news off & on & trying to find things for them to do. Two of our children have asthma & so we stayed in with all windows & doors shut tight. I was on edge, watching them every second, looking for the signs of an attack. They were affected, but thankfully not as bad as I was expecting. We had quite a few melt-downs today & needless to say mom was tired & not as patient as she could have been! It's been a long day! Why am I awake!? At one point we didn't know if friends were going to be camping out at our house last night due to a pending evacuation order or that if family from San Diego (who had a mandatory evacuation) would be coming to stay with us today.Things were just up in the air! As we checked in with friends or were called by friends today we realized how close the fires actually were & that it was affecting many of their lives. They had gone through the experience of gathering what they could & evacuating with their families. I imagined what they must have been going through & was hit hard with the reality & possibility that we too could at some point be foreced to leave our home & many of the comforts & "things" we have (if not this week maybe next year or in 5 or 10 years). To have to leave, not knowing if your possessions would be there when you returned would be overwhelming. However, at times such as these it is amazing how quickly priorities are put into perspective. Things are just things, a house is just a house...but our families and friends are the real treasures, the real happiness. How quickly we can become focused on the "things" around us, including all the really good things we are involved in...that in an emergency situation is all canceled & not of real importance...the focus is turned back to those things that can never be replaced...our loved ones. I'm grateful we're safe & that all my kids are sound asleep in their own beds (& that two of them are breathing & not suffering from asthma attacks!). Tomorrow is a new day to treasure. I'm so grateful for my little family & I hope & pray that all our loved ones are sleeping soundly tonight as well.