I hate returning from vacation. It's not just the mounds of laundry and unpacking to be done. It's the return to reality. Bills must be paid, work to be done, tubs to scrub. I loved the freedom from reality while on vacation. The freedom to forget the stress of my day to day life. Ah, but at least I had a vacation. A joyous 6 days with family, hiking, biking, beaching, all done in the spirit of vacation.

We had an great time. Emmett met all his cousins on this side of the family. He told us yesterday that he already misses his them. They all played so well together, there was barely a moments boredom in the bunch. Our rental house fit us just perfectly, everyone had a room, and although the littlest amoungst us didn't much want to sleep, we all knew what we were getting into. At least we thought we knew.

Many memories will remain from this vacation. The sinking of the U.S.S Umbrella off of Pope Beach and the 3 mile hike no one expected. But greatest among the memories will be of the voluntary evacuation of the rental house in advance of a major forest fire.

Being from the Midwest, forest fires are not something I really ponder much. Luckily the Californian bunch of the family recognized the signs and prepared us for what was ahead. The massive plume of smoke rising over the ridge was surely something to behold, almost a thing of beauty. Until you realize that the plume is really just a forewarning of what is to come. Flames eating every combustible thing in their path, and if that means the house, it's the house. As we packed our things back into our suitcases, grabbed what foodstuff we could, and jammed it all into our rental cars, I thought of how easy it was to just shove everything we'd brought into suitcases, and drive away. It was easy for us to evacuate when the voluntary order came. We were not emotionally invested in the structure we slept in for 4 nights. We'd enjoyed it's shelter, it's amenities, but it wasn't ours. What if I had to flee my own house? what would I take knowing that nothing might survive the hunger of the fire? As I watched neighbors pack their cars, I paused to think about what they were feeling. The thought of losing everything was what made their hands work faster.

As the next two days played out - we found new lodging and made the best of our re-located vacation. But buying trinkets of this or that in the South Lake Tahoe stores felt selfish. These folks were watching part of their town burn! And I'm buying a T-shirt? As I sit comfortably in my air conditioned midwest home, with no smoke billowing over head, I can only hope and pray for the residents and fire fighters in South Lake Tahoe, as they fight the Angora Fire - still mostly uncontained as I write this. We're not sure if the rental house escaped the flames - there are so many conflicting stories to read. We hope and pray that it did, because it served us well, and it the owners are great people.

Prayers for South Lake Tahoe, today.