Burn Baby Burn

Last fall the place where I live suffered devasting wildfires. We had to evacuate but were fortunate that nothing burned near us. There was however ash EVERYWHERE and my lovely yellow fur turned an ugly dingy gray for weeks afterward. It was almost like brown snow. And the air smelled burnt. Yuck. Here are some photos Most Excellent took before and after evacuation. Kinda scary in retrospect although being a dog, I was largely clueless at the time.

I live under that nasty brown cloud in the distance. Notice what a beautiful clear day it is otherwise. This was Sunday afternoon, the fires had been burning for about 5 hours, way inland  from the coast.

Driving home along the coast, we're not really looking forward to going into that smokey cloud:










This is Monday at about 10am. Things are really "cooking" now. Humidity level, 9%!!!! wind speed, 20-40mph.

This is what this area usually looks like:

Again, it is really a gorgeous day outside of the firezone, with crystal clear Santa Ana skies. If you don't mind tinder dry conditions. The sickly yellow tint in some of these photos is the sun shining through the orange brown smoke. We are about to evacuate. The fire is headed straight at us.

The cars were loaded, with everything we could reasonably bring of value, and off we went to stay at a house in La Jolla that we used to own. Thanks to Michelle P., the current owner, who so graciously let us hang out for a few days. It was totally AWESOME getting to be back in our old place again.
Here are some amazing but rather scary sunset pictures taken looking out over the mighty Pacific, the fires still roaring inland.

     Flashforward 5 months and nature pulls a fast one by turning previously charred and blackened hills into glorious swaths of wildflower color. I give my most heartfelt sympathies to all those who lost so much in these blazes, but alas, fire is a part of our ecosystem out here in So Cal.
     And like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, some good soaking rains have given us flower lovers a dazzling spring display. Many of these blooms actually need burns in order to be allowed to germinate. Most Excellent brought the digicam and off we went. Check these out:

"Parry's Phalecia", Now THAT'S a blue you can write home about! Someone had sprayed their burnt yard with seeds of these flowers, and WOW what a display:The area in these photos is the San Dieguito River Valley near Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Canyons and valleys like this one funneled plumes of fire at terrific speeds towards the ocean. Sorry,we didn't get photos of this area right after the blackening; trust me it was pretty horrific. Like a holocaust ( as if I knew what that was) (fortunately, I don't)(after all I'm just a beastley beast, living the good life).

Here are some charred remnants of the fire, many of these trees now leafing out. It's really hard to fathom how green it all is , considering what it looked only 5 short months ago.

And a few more:

This last photo is contains a melted cactus. I don't think this one is coming back. But, it will decay and provide nourishment and shelter for something else. Such is the cycle of life.

So, out of hideous, life threatening destruction, you get.....wildflowers! Ain't life grand?

Keeping it real,
Miss Lucille