Up in smoke

My lovely vacation in California is over. I miss my boys. I had such a great time with them, as always. But, thanks to them, I will have a constant craving for roasted cauliflower (with olive oil and garlic - yum!), which isn't so bad really... but also for spaghetti alla carbonara. Pancetta, eggs, cheese and pasta. It's one of my favorites and ex-husband made it for us on Sunday. Now I want it. I want it a lot. And I also want to play SingStar, Rock Band, and Wii Fit while watching Blue Ray DVDs of Pixar films and shorts. Their home is a tech/movie/music nerd and foodie haven. Thanks for an awesome time guys!!

Santa Maria is an hour or so north of Santa Barbara and on my way there I saw first hand the fire that is still burning in Goleta. At first the gorgeous blue sky became what I thought was just overcast. In the first picture you can see the red/gray "cloud" of smoke overtaking the blue sky. The second photo gives you some idea of the extent of this smoke cloud. It overtook everything. And look what it did to the sun! I've heard that a red setting sun today means a hot day tomorrow. The sun itself looked as if it was on fire.









Finally, after being overwhelmed by the extent of effect from the smoke, I passed a hill to the east that was actually aflame. I could see the fire itself. I'm not sure you can see it since I was taking a picture with the phone while driving, but I had to try.

It was such a shock to see flames. I got my speeding ticket shortly after these photos were taken. Good thing he didn't catch me taking them!

Today I'm back to reality. Somewhere, for many men and women reality is risking their lives fighting these fires. For me, it's being home and procrastinating against, well, against everything.