Happy Birthday to me.  The night was uneventful and I got eight blessed hours of sleep. I haven’t even turned on the TV, so this is last night’s news.

I am in contact with our evacuees, but we won’t be joining them because it would be too hard and too disorienting for Elvon.  As it is, sometimes he understands the situation perfectly, but then he’ll lose his grasp of it and just want to be taken home.  It was easier to explain up until 9:00 pm, when the networks went back to regular programming, and I lost my visual aids.  Here’s what I know:

Both our old house in Napa and new place, Fountaingrove Lodge, are still standing but still in danger.  We slept between two wildfires and the deep blue sea in Fort Bragg, but we are among the lucky ones.  We’ll be staying here until we can go back home, or find a plan B, if we need one.  I have no idea how long it will take to restore power, water, gas lines, etc., so it may be quite a while.

A lot of dear friends in Napa lost their homes, with all their treasures and memories.  If you know these names, here’s a short list: Ulla and John Brown, Bob & Celia Stewart, Marilyn and David Anderson, Frank and Linda Grange, Vanessa Braun, Bill & Cindy Ward, Morrie & Sharon Bobrow…and: the Sheldon’s old house, Hinman’s, Fred and Gary’s, on and on, and more I don’t know about yet.  301 Deer Hollow is still standing, along with 303 – Sophie Bevan’s, 305 – Marlene and Stan Rosenberg’s, and 307 – the Callan’s. The other side of Deer Hollow is all gone on the up side from Tamarack.  The “Lower Oaks” as Dale used to call them, are intact.

Fountaingrove in general was hard hit.  Not much left there except our Lodge, and God knows when we will be able to move back in.  I‘ll call the desk and book us in here for a month.