Another blessing

For those of you who asked, the female barn kitty (Miss Kitty) returned yesterday. She is skittish but completely healthy. No sign of the male tomcat, but there's still hope.

Looking for Miracles in the California Wildfire

It has been awhile since I posted as my family has been rocked with tragedy. My sister-in-law of 25+ years passed away October 4th in California. I spent a few weeks out there when she was ill and then again when she died. I just returned home a week ago.

Then the wildfires started.

My brother evacuated his beautiful mountain-side home. He has been sitting in an RV in a parking lot in a mall along with a hundred other refugees. He got out with precious little, mostly papers and photos, a couple of mementos of his wife. He was able to take his airedale dog and his indoors cat, but the barn cats couldn't be captured. He had no food, but fortunately he keeps water in his RV. Stores were closed as the Governor had asked people not to go to work. The air was very hard to breathe and smoke was everywhere and persistent. He was finally able to get gas for the generator so he could condition the air inside the camper. And after a day or so, he was able to find a store to get some food.

Fortunately he had his cell phone so we've been able to keep in touch. A friend offered him a place to shower and home-cooked food. He told me his skin was stinging and black from the ash and soot. He said he was so grateful for the shower and food.

As he waited to find out if his home survived and his neighbors were okay, he stayed positive. He was very optimistic that his house and barn/workshop/art studio would make it. He even imagined his whole hillside would be untouched.

Two days ago, he finally was able to get up to his house in the mountains between Escondido and Ramona, California. Trees were strewn across the roads, power lines were down and much of the area was burned. He still hoped for a miracle. He lives along a long shared driveway where five other houses are situated. The first neighbor's house he came to, a large horse farm, survived, although they lost their garage. The next three neighbors all burned out. Then he came to his house. The house was incinerated, completely burned away. The barn cats were no where to be seen. But his barn, workshop and art studio all survived. As he said later, "I hoped for a miracle, but I received a blessing." In the barn were his tools, motorcycle, and ATV. His art studio had not a scratch. His tractor made it although one wheel was burned off. He lost his cars and horse trailer and various other outside equipment. Everything is black and covered with ash, but that can be cleaned up. He didn't lose everything and that was a blessing.

I find his attitude remarkable. That he could see the blessing in his barn surviving a horrendous fire, after losing his beloved wife to illness and their home and all their belongings to this fire.

And my own gratitude? I'm grateful that I was able to visit with my sister-in-law before she passed away, and I'm grateful that my brother made a quick decision and was able to evacuate safely. I'm also grateful for the blessing of his barn's survival because that has given him hope and a sense of home.

One last thing, my brother has put out water and food for the barn cats, hoping they made it out safely and will return home. He's again hoping for a miracle.