Balzaccom You doing OK

[Grzldvt]

Fires???? Are you OK????

[balzaccom]

We are fine--thanks for asking. We live right in the heart of downtown, only blocks from City Hall and the main Fire Station. if we burn, the whole town of 80,000 people burns.

But I've lost count of the friends and clients who have lost homes or wineries---and that's before the big winds that are supposed to be on their way again.

WE get posts about every few hours from the OES, so that keeps things interesting.

Our own home is fine, the fires are a good ten miles north of us, but so many friends have been affected. In the city we're surrounded by vineyards, which don't burn. But this fire already jumped from the east side of the valley to the west side of the valley, which is a distance of over a mile of vineyards. So just about anything can happen.

Sad times.

[Grzldvt]

Glad to hear you are OK..... This has been one nasty year

[balzaccom]

Things seem to be improving. The winds are down, the temps are down, the evacuation orders are now back to evacuation warnings...and the fires are beginning to be contained.

All that is good. Now it's time to start sifting through the ashes...a number of houses and wineries have burned, and my classes at the college have been doubly impacted by first COVID19 and now this. My poor students are facing serious decisions every day about the life....and I am trying to teach them something they might use years in the future.