Priorities

The first call came just as it was getting dark.
It was the Sheriff's department,
an automated message
(Reverse 911)

"Prepare to Evacuate"

Two hours later,
the San Diego police left the message:

"Mandatory immediate evacuation"

The moment of decision is here.
How much time do I have?
What stuff do I grab?

I was working on answering these questions,
and it was only after a couple of hours
that I realized that my cue case
was still sitting in the corner of the fireplace
not in the pile of stuff to take.
Wow! How did that happen?

Where do your pool cues stand in your priorities?

I have been putting together
a couple of "Go bags".

#1 survival clothing
(heavy duty footwear, cold weather gear)
#2 survival items
(first aid, water purification, compass, signal mirror, etc)
#3 technology
(phone, camera, laptop computer, backup, camcorder)
#4 out the door
(wallet, keys, passport)

Maybe, if I had all the above packed in the car,
and I had a spare minute to look around again,
I would have seen my case
and grabbed it.

What about my pool trophies?
Would that seem a bit tacky,
standing around watching my home burn down,
holding my pool trophies safe from extinction?

I've decided to stay put.
No immediate evacuation for me.
I drove to the top of the hill,
and there is no fire visible to the east.

I think the police alert was done
with an abundance of caution.
Government can't go wrong scaring people.
It makes people think their government
is doing something good for a change.

And then there's the whole issue of
the 90+ year old saint of a woman next door.
It seems that after being neighbors for 4 years,
I kinda adopted her as my new mom,
and she kinda adopted me as her son.

Well, she has trouble with her breathing,
so this smoky air is not good for her,
so I didn't want to subject her to the night air
and the stress of having to evacuate her
home of the past 35 years.

My aviation experience has given me
a good handle on weather analysis.
I think the fire will advance slowly
and be controlled before it gets here.

Am I an optimist, or what?

So here I sit, writing this,
and waiting for the fire to crest the hill.
Then I'll grab the bags, the old lady next door,
and maybe my cue case,
and head out into hell.

Brinkmanship!

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