Journals of Journeys Journals of Spiritual, Emotional and Life-Altering Journeys

Good Intentions

Well it seems my intentions of putting up a photo essay entry about Tobias the Adequate, a comical magician we were entertained by at the Valhalla Renaissance Faire a few weeks ago have been sidelined by a number of things. First, the photos are just too big to put here and get the full effect, so that means there's a lot of work entailed in putting them up in a photo album online. In the meantime, I'm working on keeping things at an even keel in the homestead now that the kids are home full-time, the hubby is enduring night time construction (and bright lights, jackhammers, and the bleating of trucks as they throw the gears in reverse) right outside the station, and keeping pace with several works in progress manuscripts in preparation for a writing convention I'll be attending late next month. And if that's not enough to keep me on my toes, let's throw into the mix the work that's involved in keeping the fledgling writer's group going throughout the "leaner" months when the majority of the members take the time off to be with their family, travel and so forth.

Thankfully Mother Nature has been able to stave off the fire season this year with periodic rains. Whether that turns out to be a true blessing or just pushing us back a bit further for a more frantic, furious season has yet to be seen. It has made the wild grasses grow longer which means as the temperature rises such as it has within the last few days, those long grasses dry out and become horrific wicks.  I doubt I'll be able to update my blog with details of any fires my husband is working on or pose a threat to our community, but I abide by the rule of never saying never, so we'll see how that pans out. In the chance I don't, here are some fairly good sources of fire information:

• Cal-Fire Incident Web (formerly California Department of Forestry - Fire) at http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/
• Inci-web: National Fire Incidents at http://inciweb.org/
• Inci-web: California Fire Incidents at http://inciweb.org/state/5/
• and California Fire News blog  at http://calfire.blogspot.com/ (sporadically updated)

You can also subscribe to their feeds. If you're unable to find the feed information, leave me a comment and I'll provide you with the information.

Finally before I go back to transcribing my manuscript (which I spent upwards of an hour this morning at my weekly write-in having to restructure after I found a major flaw in the timeline-- rewarding to get it done, but frustrating to have to endure), a reminder. As you might recall, our friend and a fellow firefighter's young adult son, Sean, was critically injured in an accident at the end of May. He's been getting better and was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital down in the northern San Francisco Bay Area. However this has caused a lot of strain on their small and close family as his dad, Vince, has returned to duty. They're in the process of transferring him back home. I continue to post updates at Terri, Sean's mother, posts them. They can be found at the Angels Near and Far blog which is located at http://www.kathieleung.com/blog/ Please visit often and keep Sean and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Also, please keep two of my friends, Anne and Julie, in your thoughts and prayers as both of them are enduring many trials and tribulations that have come with news they have cancer - again. It's been amazing watching all three of these situations and the people in the center of them as their strength, their graciousness and their beautiful spirits have shone through so beautifully. It's been humbling as well and has caused me, for one, to learn it's important to balance things out, to appreciate what we have right around us and has served as a thump on my head to remind me the world does not revolved around me alone. And you'd think having teenagers would have done that just fine alone!