My New Normal

Planning on a lazy day inside under the A/C, it wasn’t until late, around 10, when I decided to get started on the morning ritual of makeup and getting dressed.

About that same time, I heard sirens.

Not unusual in this senior complex, especially when it’s hot like this, but I nevertheless listened to see if they appeared to be stopping here.

They weren’t, so I went about my business of doing nothing, planning another indoors day.

Along about 10:45, I was on facebook checking out comments to a comment I made on the Big Brother site. There’s a woman on the program named Kaitlyn, who prides herself on her occupation as Life Coach – teaching others how to meditate and handle life’s circumstances calmly quietly. However, upon learning the guy in the house she likes is in like with someone else she fell apart ... crying and raging with jealousy, eventually out-of-anger flipping and voting for the opposition. To make matters worse, she is now Head of House. No question her targets for eviction, as a woman who feels scorned, will be the guy she likes and the girl he likes.

I should be ashamed to admit watching and getting involved in "reality TV", but I’m not. I’ve been hooked on this show since the first episode in 2000 and have never missed a season. What interests me is how people are blind to their true selves until, placed in a situation with others and no outside diversions, the masks they wear in daily life begin to peel off and true character appears – like Kaitlyn’s occupation of telling others how to live life when she’s a mess her own darn self.

It’s fascinating.

At any rate, while on facebook my archeologist friend posted ...

Ohhhhh. Thus, the sirens.

I quickly finished dressing, opened the front door and was faced with a wall of heat ...

I managed a short walk around, no fire in sight, but I could smell fire and saw helicopters off in the distance.

Once back inside, feeling a little dizzy from just that short time in the heat, I logged into local news.

That’s the Devore area where lives our former Assistant Maintenance Guy. He said he hated his new house and wished that last fire had swallowed it up.

Be careful what you wish for.

At any rate, not close enough to us for worry, but I'm prepared. My Go Bag and Checklist for My Family papers were rechecked, restocked, put in place and made ready the minute Summer, known around here as Fire Season, appeared.

To the left are items I've recently added to the Go Bag -- a carry bag for the Instant Pot so, if I land in a hotel during an emergency, I can cook my own food, and a soft-sided electric cooler with adapter, so I can comfortably store food items in the car or hotels that do not have mini fridges.

Hope for the best this fire season, plan for the worst.