fire

This was a pretty wild n crazy week.

For those of you that know me well, I love a good 'ol fashioned weather scare. When I was in elementary school I would carefully watch the weather before school to see what kind of weather the week would bring. I would watch the as the Ohio sky turned dark and windy right before a big storm and ride quickly home on my bike to beat the downpour. When there were tornado watches I would quickly gather my most valued toys and take them to the basement "just in case." Only once can I remember actually waking up in the middle of the night in the basement during a tornado warning. It was an exciting thrill that most often turned out okay, but there were definitely ice storms and tornado watches and blizzards and flash floods. There was a whole lot of weather excitement in Ohio and although Arizona's beauty and mountains have captivated me it has left me a longing a little bit for the excitement and diversity that vast weather changes bring. 

I got my dangerous weather fill this week when a forest fire came about 9 miles from our house. 

It's windy this week and we live on the edge of the national forest. Perfect recipe for a forest fire, apparently. I had just changed two serious blow outs and given baths to both kids. It's safe to say there was poop everywhere. Lunch was still covering the kitchen table and counters and nap time was in the wings. I had a meeting at church I had to be at at 1 and John was going to come home to work while the kiddos slept. 

I got three phone calls in a row from friends around the neighborhood and listened to the message before calling them back (cause I was still partially covered in poo, ya'll.) One friend simply said, "Mel, just wonderin' if you're keeping an eye on the fire out there? It's gettin' a little close." I ran back to my bedroom, threw open my curtain and saw this.

Poor John. I don't do so well in stressful situations. Especially when it's slightly exciting and all I want to do is laugh and squeal at this dangerously exciting weather change. I kept running back and forth from the window to random areas in the house to see what I could grab besides my kid's and some pictures. I found myself gathering random (kind of pointless) items and calling my friend back to ask what she was going to do. She seemed calm, so I calmed down and gathered the things that couldn't be replaced, which took me back to my childhood which reminded me how truly nostalgic I am. I need to slim my "irreplaceables" a lil, I'm afraid. haha.

We gathered up photo albums and family videos, important documents and other things that couldn't be replaced. We packed our cars full and watched out the window in awe. The fire was powerful and the clouds were unbelievable. It was my first up-close forest fire out here in the west and although it can't quite compete with funnel clouds and lightning bolts, it has it's own captivating power that compares with nothing else I've ever seen.

We watched it closely as the wind directed it north away from us and our little abode.

Pretty incredible.

Though some of the pictures that friend's took of the view when the sun set were even more amazing!

So yeah, natural disasters really fascinate me. Is there kinda weird?

Maybe a lil bit.

Thankfully now it's about 15% contained and we haven't seen smoke all day. Thank You Lord that it's getting under control and the winds have slowed down. Pretty incredible the power of fire in itself. Pretty amazing that Jesus can contain it. 

//