The Wind has arrived

I love fall. It is beautiful with the clear skies, crisp temperatures and changing leaves. It has been cold all weekend and I am in love with it. Our heater has clicked on and we have had a couple fires in the wood stove. We gave Ali her coat I bought last spring for 25 dollars and she wore it to school and even home on the bus today. I love the apples that are ripe in the fall and the smell of wood that has just been chopped. I love getting out the fall decorations and lighting candles that have sat dormant all summer.

But I do not like the Santa Anna Winds that love to rush suddenly on to the scene and take away the peace of our fall. It is very windy tonight and we are on edge. It is not that the wind itself will do anything to us other than maybe knock over a few trees. But it is what comes with the winds that is of deep concern to us mountain dwellers. We are very concerned about fires tonight. In fact about every two minutes Cameron has asked me to check the alerts on Rim of the World.net to see if there are any fires. (He is trying to study for the PE so he is not actually at the computer right now.) The last two times I have checked there have been reports of smells of smoke. I don't know that there are any actual fires in the mountains but everyone is on edge. I don't think there will be much sleep in the Brown household tonight.

But my evacuation list is on my desk, my clothes are drying the dryer and I have enough gas to drive down the hill if it becomes necessary. I guess I am as prepared as it is possible to be without actually loading the car. (And that would just be a little paranoid wouldn't it?)

Pray for the wind to stop!