Fire Day 9

Jan is in the townhouse, but the gas is off and pilot light on the hot water heater needs to be lit.  As I write this she is going back to Mountain Shadows to see if she can at least drive by her house.  Not so sure that will happen as there are still gas lines that need to be capped off.  Life is hard right now, but God is good.  She is one TOUGH lady and I admire her for that.  Today's weather is to be "iffy". It's hot and dry with no rain expected.  We MIGHT get rain on Wednesday. 

The only building saved on the Flying W. Ranch

The view from our neighborhood on Sunday, July 1.

I know life will never be the same.  In a way, that's good.  It has made us stronger.  It has taught me that you can lose everything, but as long as you have eacher other, it is enough. I am anxious to see how it has affected those majestic hills.  Will I ever see them so beautiful again?  Will they come back more beautiful because the pine beetle (that was destroying a lot of the trees) will be gone? It feels like we will always refer to our days as "before the fire" and "after the fire".  We will tell our grandchildren about the "big fire of 2012". Weird, but I know others that have gone before us have experienced much the same.  They were stronger for it and tried to teach us these life lessons.  Until it happens to you personally, you just can't fathom all of the devastation, the hurt, the loss, the love, the gratitude, the community and the reality of living through such a horrible thing.