Friday, July 06, 2007

"Oh yes, the area right by my house has fires all summer long"

So the ridge right above my dorm is still burning, and when the wind blows the right way ash falls from the sky, yet no one seems to think this is a big deal. Last night I had put my meds and my computer and my notebook in a bag in case I had to leave in a big hurry, and everyone else was just like, "the damn helicopters kept me up all night." Roger assured me that brush fires happen here all the time, and that it really is no big deal, but I'm having trouble getting my head around this.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For a couple of years recently I lived in Vista, CA, right next to several hundred acres of undeveloped land. The first time I spotted black smoke rising from just behind the adjacent ridge, I too packed meds and computer and passport and birth certificate -- then went to notify my elderly neighbor Susie. When I told her, "There's a fire just over the ridge and you might want to be ready to leave", she just smiled and said, "Oh, you're new here, aren't you?"

I never got used to it. Thinking about it now (from the safety of my new perch in Boston) still makes me anxious.