Our canyon was in the middle of this cloud just over a week ago. Woke up to smoke, ran downstairs, opened the door and a firetruck drove up with the driver yelling Get out! Get out! Get out!! That was it. Grabbed the dogs, 3 of 4 cats and fled. (4th cat survived) Didn’t have time to do anything else. Left all the chickens, turkeys and peafowl behind. Thus was the beginning of the Creek Fire which started in Kagel Canyon, my home.
That afternoon I spoke to the firemen at the entrance of our canyon (still on mandatory evacuation at that time) and they let me go in to feed and water the birds, but I had to walk and I had to take the dogs (?). There were still fires burning as we hiked up to the house. In the Sand Canyon Fire ins 2016 I lost over a dozen hens the first few hours, and evacuated the rest, this time I fully expected to come home to a smoldering pile of ash where the house had been and piles of charred carcasses. Nope. ALL of the birds survived. I suspect the difference was how windy is was and how fast the fire came through and moved on. The house survived as well. There is still a lot of soot and we’re all coughing, but we survived. 22 families lost their homes in this fire - about 10% of the total population of the canyon.
Today is the 8 year anniversary of this blog. 8 years ago I went to Northern California for a weekend visit with my parents. My mom was losing her fight against breast cancer, and had just found out that the cancer had moved to her brain. My sister came out and we ended up living with folks for about 5 months. Tumblr gave me a voice and a much needed distraction. I will be ever grateful for all of you that joined me on that journey.
A lot of water under the bridge since then.
On Tuesday I had a physical which included a mammogram. I found out yesterday that something is amiss on the mammogram scans, and I go back next week for a follow-up mammogram and ultrasound. I’m trying to view this as just being a follow-up but I’m mindful that given my family history and my own hormonal past, that I’m a prime candidate for breast cancer, should that be the case.
Anyway, I’m still around. I’ve been posting on Facebook and Instagram (as laura.quick) I recently spent a few weeks in Tuscany photographing for an Italian Cooking School, and earlier this year traveled in Central Asia if you have a few minutes and feel like taking a look, feel free.