A HOT day in Santa Barbara

When I checked the weather this morning, it told me that it was going to be a HOT day in Santa Barbara....high of 78!! This might not sound like much to my Texas friends, but that's pretty steamy for the coast. There wasn't a cloud in the sky either. I opened up all the windows and doors to let the cool breeze in....there is no AC in the house. But how nice is it to be able to open them and know that I'm not letting out anything that we're paying for? Yeah, it's nice!! :) Oh, and the natural light is wonderful too!!

When it got around time for lunch, I knew I had stuff to make sandwiches at the house, but it's just a little bit too much effort to make one just for myself, so I invited Emily and Laura to join me for lunch at the park. I made and packed up the sandwiches, picked out some crackers, grabbed the jar of pickles, the lemonade, cups and Sour Patch Kids for dessert. I went to get them both, and then we made our way to Alice Keck Park for the picnic.

What a beautiful place for a picnic. There were some Moms with their kids, various dogs with their owners, ducks and the most gorgeous view of the pond and gazebo. I figure while I still can, let's do things like this. I also did ask the girls to think about doing this once I start working....evidently there is a really nice beach in Goleta that we can do the same thing. Woohoo!!




So, I came home and went along with my afternoon...until I got a message from Laura....."Um, there's a fire in San Roque.". This happens to be right where Laura is moving from, and where all of her things still are. Her poor car is in the shop until later this week, so she had no way to get up to her house. I said "Ok, I'm throwing boxes in the car, and I'm on my way.". The fire had started around 130pm, and only about an hour later, it was starting to get a little chaotic on the streets to where she lived. Our first route was diverted, but we managed to get over to her place. The fire was on the backside of the mountain, so we couldn't see flames, but the smoke was pretty gnarly, and kept on coming. After one trip, we got back to the house, and decided to go back and get more stuff. You never know what the winds will do, and there were already evacuations ordered for the area right near her place. So, we went back, and threw almost everything into my car.

What a stressful afternoon!! I got to experience my first California fire....just plain crazy to see all that smoke in person. I'd seen a lot of images from the fires in November, but it's so different to be here when it's happening.



Keep Santa Barbara and the people that live in the Foothills in your prayers that they are safe and that the firemen and women are able to contain the fire as soon as possible.