Writer's Island - "Impulse"

I have discovered this week that as I have gotten older I am calmer in a crisis and can think fast (who knew?). We awoke yesterday morning to a power outage during our news and coffee. We did not bat an eye over this as we went about our morning routine, not realizing the power pole had started a fire. As the planes began to fly overhead we became concerned and frustrated that without power we were unaware of the location of the fire (note to self: buy a battery operated radio). Dave took a drive to check it out and returned in a hurried state. "Get dressed we have to get ready to leave." The fire was in our canyon as the wind was continuing to howl. You could walk a few houses up the street and see flames moving up the opposite canyon wall spreading our way. He asked "what do you want to take?" I calmly recited a list as if I'd done this a hundred times before.

Pictures

Important papers

purse

glasses

medications

animals

a few days of clothes

three family heirlooms

His impulse, bless his heart, was to save the computer for my blog but I said leave it thinking I could retrieve it. We received a phone call on the streets that were to be evacuated and we were not on the list but we were told to be ready at a moments notice. Dave's impulse was to water the fence and trees keeping busy but mine was to sit by the phone (luckily we still had a wall phone) reflecting.

I was sitting there wondering how I would have done if Dave had been at work. The one neighbor who knew I was disabled was on vacation. My impulse was to plan in my head what I could do for myself in a similar crisis. Dave was obviously thinking the same thing as he headed down the street amidst the chaos and met a lady who insisted on exchanging numbers in case I ever needed help in the future. When the containment got to 40%, with the evacuations lifted, I told Dave to go ahead and go to work. He left names and numbers in case the fire got out of hand.

As I type this they are still keeping a close eye on the fire's location and the power has been restored. The wind died down during a critical time but picked up again during the night keeping us vigilant. The wind blew in our favor and no houses were lost. Living in the forest is a gamble but the firefighters really know their stuff and the lake provided lots of water drops. :)

Fire is an impelling force that brings out an instinctive mode of survival. Dave went a little spaz and I was calm so we balanced each other out. We were "baptised by fire" and feel blessed.

Photo by StockXpert

Join us on the island at http://writersisland.wordpress.com/