Our Fire

(from 6/21/08)
(Continued from http://daisyfairbanks.typepad.com)

My daughter and I, and our family, have lost our home to a fire. Everything is gone. Luckily we happened to be out of town at my cousin's wedding, a beautiful cruise on the harbor in Newport Beach. Back at home in Santa Cruz County, we learned that our family home had turned to ashes.

We lived on what we jokingly called "The Family Compound," a group of 5 structures that included homes for 8 family members on 2.5 acres. I grew up there, learned to ride horses, was taught to sew by my mother, learned to make the perfect pie crust from my grandmother, learned to shoot straight from my father. Our home was a destination for family members during the summer, and was always full of kids and laughter. I moved back when I had my girl, and she'd come to love it in the same way, as her home.

Our local news has been featuring this video, showing our home engulfed in flames. The cottage that belonged to my daughter and I is the one that's the bright orange square in the center. My mother's house is light colored and only half in flames at the beginning of the video, more and more devastated toward the film's end.

http://www.ksbw.com/video/16670415/index.html

Ignore the audio portion of the broadcast, it's completely unrelated to what you're seeing:

All family members are safe. My sister managed to quickly grab a few photos from 3 of our homes but had to quickly evacuate as the road had only one way out and there was fire on both sides. The dog was rescued, 3 cats are not accounted for. We'll all be fine. We're a bit in shock as you can imagine, but trying to figure out the next step.

Regarding my vintage clothing business, my inventory is all safe at my brick and mortar store. On the plus side, I no longer have the pile of laundry and mending. More later.....