Art Installation - WheelerPlaced on the fence in their yard in LA.
This is Joan with the two champion dogs - I never can remember the breed offhand.
But I have written to you of them before.
They are in Arizona here where they run
around in the golf cart.
.
Wow! Here is a saga from my friend Joan in Sylmar CA. I heard of this fire on the TV, but never dreamed their house could be in danger. I thought I'd just let her tell you in her own words, as she emailed to me. The photo is from an "Installation" they just completed in her back yard - very unique I'd say - named Wheeler. They have maybe 3 places they travel between now, one in Arizona which they enjoy too - so they just came from Arizona to Sylmar to..... THIS!! She says helicopters are still flying around, and the winds are supposed to blow again this weekend.
Today Debbie and I go to town so I'll catch up on that tomorrow.
WELL....I'VE BEEN THROUGH A VARIED SAGA FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. IN AZ. I WOULD GET ONLINE, ONLY TO HEAR "GOODBYE", OR THEN MAYBE I WOULDN'T GET ON LINE. THIS WENT ON UNTIL I WAS TURNING THE AIR BLUE, SO I SAID TO MYSELF.....SELF.....YOU JUST DON'T NEED TO DO THIS TO YOURSELF....SO....STOP THE HELL FOR TRYING. SO I TURNED THE DAMNED THING OFF, PACKED IT AWAY.....STILL SWEARING UNDER MY BREATH EVERYTIME I SAW IT OR LOOKED AT THE WI-FI TOWER 1/2 A BLOCK IN FRONT OF ME.....
WELL....THERE WAS RELATIVE LITTLE NEWS TO WRITE ABOUT. WE PAINTED, WE SHOPPED, WE ATE WHAT WE BOUGHT, WE INSTALLED A DISH SATITALITE (I HAVE SPELLED THIS THREE DIFFERENT TIMES AND SPELL CHECK SEZ IT'S OK....SO MUCH FOR THAT). HAD ELECTRICANS AND AIR CONDITIONING SERVICE MEN OVER TO CHECK EVERYTHING, HAD THE FLOOR PEOPLE OVER, COMPLAINED, THEY ARE INSTALLING A NEW ONE IN DEC., WORKED ON THE YARD, ETC., ETC., NEVER DID GET IN THE POOL....WHICH WE HAD PLANNED TO DO EVERYDAY. JUST EXCITEMENT AT EVERY TURN. WELL....THERE WAS A COYOTE IN THE DOG RUN ONE NIGHT.....
WE RETURNED HOME.....MIKE CALLED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND TOLD US TO CLEAR OUT THE CLOSET THAT GOES TO THE ATTIC. HE HAD LEFT OVER INSULATION FROM A JOB AND WAS COMING OVER (SUNDAY) AND WE'D FORM A LINE AND HE WOULD FILL THE ATTIC. WE DID....HE DID. GOT THAT CLEANED UP AND PUT STUFF BACK, HAD DINNER AND WATCHED THE NASCAR RACE.
ON MONDAY MORNING WE WERE AWAKENED BY HELICOPTERS FLYING OVER OUR HOUSE AND A PHONE CALL FROM A FRIEND LETTING US KNOW OUR FOOTHILLS WERE ON FIRE. IF WE NEEDED HELP, CALL AND SHE WOULD GET OFF WORK AND COME HELP US. WE WATCHED ON TV RATHER UNCONCERNED OF ANY DANGER, AS WE'VE NEVER BEEN IN DANGER BEFORE. THE WINDS WERE BAD, THEY'VE BEEN BAD BEFORE, HOWEVER, BEFORE TOO LONG, WE HEARD SIRENS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE FIRE DEPT. HAD SET UP A STAGING AREA A COUPLE OF BLOCKS IN BACK OF US AND THE HELICOPTERS WOULD COME AND LOAD UP WITH WATER AND GO BACK TO THE FIRE...I THOUGHT AT TIMES THEY WERE GOING TO COME IN AND JOIN US. THEN THE BIGGER PLANES PICKED UP WATER FROM THE RESEVOIR AND LAKE NEAR HERE AN THEY WERE FLYING DIRECTLY BACK AND FORTH OVER US. NOT TOO LONG AFTER THAT THE COPS WERE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR TELLING US THAT WE HAD A MANDATORY EVACUATION.
I CALLED MIKE AS HE SAID IF THERE WERE TROUBLE......HE WAS IN BEVERLY HILLS WORKING.....AND SINCE THE FREEWAYS WERE ALSO SHUT DOWN, HE KNEW HOW TO SNEAK IN HERE FROM WHEN THE EARTHQUAKES HAD THEM SHUT DOWN....ONLY THEN THEY WERE DAMAGED AND COLLAPSED.
SO....WE HAD GOTTEN ALL THE KENNELS OUT FOR THE CATS (8), PARROT (1), ALL THE LEASHES, FOOD, WATER, ETC., FOR THE ANIMALS, A CHANGE OF CLOTHES FOR US, ALL THE PAINTINGS, SOME ARE VERY LARGE, PAPERS, FILES, PHOTOS, ETC., ETC. MY COMPUTER, CAUSE WE COULDN'T GET ALL THE STUFF OFF IT.....OH WHAT ONE HAS TO TAKE WHEN IN BUSINESS....................I HAD ALSO CALLED MOTEL 6 NEARBY, FOR 2 ROOMS, ONE FOR OUR FRIENDS AND ONE FOR US.....AS THEY TAKE PETS, AND BETWEEN US WE HAD ONE HELL OF A LOT OF PETS.....THEY HAVE 8 CATS, ALSO.
ONCE WE WERE ALL LOADED WE CONTINUED TO WATCH IT ON TV AND MIKE WOULD GO UP ON THE ROOF OFTEN TO CHECK THE STATUS OF THE FIRE. WE ALL SAT IN THE BACKYARD AND HAD MOJITOS AND CHIPS, THEN CHECK EVERYTHING AGAIN. THIS WENT ON FOR HOURS.
ANOTHER MANDITORY EVACUATION!
WE HAD SOME HOT DOGS, BEANS, AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT ELSE, AS BY THAT TIME WE WERE OUT OF MOJITOS AND MARGARITAS.
PLAYED SOME RUMMYKUB. HAD SOME COOKIES.....NOT MANY.....JUST AZ LEFTOVERS.
BY THAT TIME IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT. WE MET WITH THE NEIGHBORS....WE LIVE ON A DEAD END STREET.....WE ALL DECIDED THAT IF THE FIRE GOT DOWN TO CERTAIN STREETS, WE'D ALL GET OUT.
COMFORT FOOD WAS TOPS ON OUR LIST....LIKE DOUGHNUTS AND CHOCOLATE. BUT, IF YOU GO OUT, YOU CAN'T GET BACK IN. WELL, PAT COULDN'T STAND IT ANY LONGER.....SHE LEFT AND WENT FOR DOUGHNUTS. THE COPS TOLD HER SHE COULDN'T GET BACK. SHE TOLD THEM HER 84 YR. OLD MOTHER (CRIPPLED), NEEDED THEM DESPERATELY TO CALM HER HYSTERIA AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE. GOD.....THEY TASTED SO GOOD!!
SO....WE KEPT THE ROUTINE UP.....ROOF CHECKING, SNAKING, WATCHING THE TV FOR MORE INFO.....BY THIS TIME, ANOTHER FIRE HAD STARTED UP ACROSS THE FREEWAY IN THE HILLS WEST OF US.....IF THE WINDS KEPT UP, THERE WAS A GOOD CHANCE THAT THE FIRES COULD JOIN AND WIPE OUT THE STATE PARK IN BACK OF US ALONG WITH MORE HOMES.
WELL, THANKS TO THOSE WONDERFUL FIREFIGHTERS AND THE WINDS CHANGING DIRECTION.....THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. THERE WERE I THINK, 40-45 HOMES DESTROYED, PROBABLY DEER, BOBCATS, COYOTES AND PERHAPS EVEN MTN. LIONS CHASED FROM THEIR HOMES AND INJURED, AS THEY ARE AROUND HERE ALSO. I FORGOT.....FOXES.....LIKE THE ONE THAT WAS SITTING IN OUR BIRDBATH A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
WELL.....ALL IS NOT UNPACKED....AND ALL OF US ARE STILL WORN OUT.....BUT WE ARE ALL SO THANKFUL TO ALL OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR US FROM THE GREAT SPIRIT IN THE SKY, FIREFIGHTERS, PEOPLE WHO MANNED THE SHELTERS, RESTAURANTS WHO BROUGHT FOOD, RED CROSS, AND SO MANY OTHERS, THAT OUR SMALL PART AND ALMOST 35 HRS. WITHOUT SLEEP SEEMED VERY MINOR COMPARED TO WHAT THEY DID FOR US.