Still blazin' in OC

The Santiago Canyon fire is still not under control. It doesn't appear to be threatening as many homes but now the winds have shifted and it's made it's way into the beautiful landscape of the Cleveland National Forest. I seriously think my olfactory senses are forever dulled from 4 days of constant smoke inhalation. There are now bigger chunks of white ash that have rained down in our yard and I went to look at some of them and realized they once were pieces of paper, possibly even photographs. It's incomprehensible to watch as someone's memories are now just bits of ash floating into the sky blanketing the earth like new fallen snow. I don't know how one recovers from such a loss. And I know that if you escaped with your lives and pets then in the big scheme of things, that is all that matters. But to lose EVERYTHING else you've ever touched in this world, has got to leave you feeling so lost, so empty. Almost like a part of your identity is also floating away.

I guess you have no choice but to rebuild, start anew, adopt a simple and clutter free lifestyle. In a way it might be liberating to some degree, no longer a prisoner to all your "stuff". It's just too bad that decision had to be made without anyone's consent. And to know that these fires here in Orange county were deliberately set? I think that's the part that is most upsetting. It would still be devastating regardless if Mother Nature was the cause for this but when there is proof that some son of a bitch intentionally started these fires and this entire scenario could have been avoided? How do you accept that and move on? Or God willing, how do you forgive? I respect and admire those who can feel compassion in their hearts for people who are capable of committing such crimes, but to be honest, I'm not one of them.