WILDFIRE REBUILDING 2007! - Day 5

The sky was a more normal shade of pale this morning. Out the window it looked breatheable, and the sore throat seems better, too (I can swallow without wincing.) I heard more sirens in the distance again, but that might be just your ordinary, everyday emergency, and not newsworthy unless it happens to you or me.

I've spent a lot of time on this map, though it is slow to update. Zoom in and float around and it gives you a good idea of the proximity of the fires, the devastation, and the evacuation areas. (We live near the corner of Oceanside Blvd. and Melrose, if you're interested.) There's not an evacuation area anywhere near us now, thankfully, and the fire I mentioned yesterday was in the Arrowood area, which still doesn't list. So now we can move on to our regular lives, already in progress.

It's Halloweentime! (Remember?) So that means candy and costumes and parties all weekend. Today is the full moon and last night I noticed it looked blood-red, like it had been lifted straight out of Revelation 6:12. How spirited! Incidentally, the other day the sun looked black like sackcloth made of goat hair, but I felt it was inappropriate to make the allusion at the time.

Probably unconnected (though don't rule it out) the new Mac Operating System is released today! And we all know what that means: Yes, I am finally going to go out and get a new Mac! Yahoo! All right, settle down everyone, settle down... I know how excited you are for me. I think I may still be a few dollars short in my savings account but I'll figure it out with the credit cards (don't tell the Mrs.) I'm still not blown away by the new iMacs, but I'm going to consult with a few folks in the know, and then try and get the most for my money. Thank you for your support and encouragement in this transition. Sometimes these things can be difficult. If you see my wife, please pat her on the back and remind her of the commitment she made when we got married.

In other news, plane travel through Iowa is going to suck from now on, though it may make you smirk, and with all this talk of fire safety, I'm still not getting a parrot.

Tune in next week to learn such topical and interesting issues as: What The Little Ditchman Is Going To Be For Halloween! What It's Like To Build An Aluminum Patio Cover Outside In The Smog! What Beer I'm Currently Drinking!

If you are a new lurker to the site, post a comment or drop me an Email and say "sh!t howdy." Make yourself known. Welcome to the elite club of TMST readership, the most curious, clever, and culturally astute people on the World Wide Web!

Have an excellent weekend. If you're bored, go help someone hose down the ash in their yard. Take a look around the house and remind yourself that you don't need 99 percent of that crap. Sell it in the next yard sale. Make gifts for your friends and family for Christmas, and don't use so much wrapping paper. Remember the immortal words of Henry David Thoreau:

"Our life is frittered away by detail... Simplify, simplify, simplify! Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose... As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."

I leave you with the Governor of California, in what I consider the shining moment of his term. (I love how he just hands the reporter her butt. I only wish the president would do this more.)



Wait... Yoga classes?