Slowly, slowly, the neighborhoods around us (east of Community, the Scripps Ranch area) got the okay to move back in and check their homes for damage. To my knowledge (= didn’t read it on the fireblog), Scripps Ranch wasn’t affected; I think everyone was a little extra cautious due to the damage done in the Cedar Fire. I certainly don’t blame them; Rancho Bernardo will be on high alert if we get another wildfire.
Now that the evacuated areas are back, we feel more secure in staying where we are. This is good.
We rounded up inflatable camping mattresses that weren’t being used, extra blankets, towels, toothbrushes, and travel-sized toiletries (how did we have all this just lying around our house?) and carted it to the Poway Community Center. They seemed to have a lot of toothpaste and toothbrushes, but I hope they’re able to use what we brought. I wish I had had extra boxes of dog treats – all those doggies having to be leashed up all day long is just so sad. We also heard they would like some candy or snack foods, but we didn’t have a chance to go to a store.
As large as the internet world is, it is still a tight-knit community. The SD Chow Yahoo! Group put up a thread where members could post updates. Chowhound posted a message directing people to SD Chow. All sorts of bloggers (food-related and not) tried to post news updates at a time when the news servers were unreliable. Koko sent me an e-mail to make sure I was okay; Kirk stopped by to say hi, and poor Alice Q. came back from a lovely SF trip to a glowing SD County. Our friends generously welcomed all our furry pets in case we had to evacuate, although thankfully we didn’t have to take them up on that offer.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who relayed news, checked in with concern, checked in to say they were okay, donated time or goods to any of the evacuation centers, or just said a little prayer. Also, thanks to my company for always understanding priorities in times of crisis and to our managers for keeping us in the loop with our colleagues.
I hope you all are safe in your homes with little damage. I hope your friends and families are still safe, too.
Three Dog Kitchen 