Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Keeping Cool in California

Several of our friends and family have contacted us recently to inquire about the proximity of the Sierra Madre fire. We're safe and sound, though the fire did extensive damage to the hillside above our community of Sierra Madre (the town in which Jesse works and we previously lived). It was a jarring experience to exit the mall last Saturday to the scorching temperatures of the top of the parking structure, only to look over the valley at leaping flames of crimson and pink beginning to consume the hills. Due to the extensive smoke, Bethany church and school were closed down on Monday and part of Tuesday. The city of Sierra Madre used the church's ministry center to provide showers for some of the evacuees. Luckily, the fire is now almost contained and (as far as I know) no structures were damaged.


The temperature in recent days has been maxing out over 100 degrees here in the San Gabriel Valley - a fact that our dog Jack doesn't appreciate as the smoke and heat have seriously curtailed his play time. To help him cope, we thought we'd take a little trip to Kmart and buy him a plastic kiddypool, thinking that as a labrador he'd like to soak in it. Oh, no. This dog thinks it's time to splash. Especially in our direction. At least Gavin enjoyed sitting in the pool for a bit. Enjoy!



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