And here we are! Of course, the day we arrived in Seattle, the authorities in Colorado declared that the evacuation in our area was lifted, and people could go back home. We figured that would happen, because that’s the way it always happens, so we planned from the start to stay in Seattle at least for a week. You know, doing the usual touristy things like sponging off relatives, playing on the sympathy of complete strangers with our tales of woe, and enjoying weather that was not a hundred degrees plus with a ninety seven percent chance of smoke inhalation.
All in all, I would like to say that we learned something from this experience. But, we didn’t – well, except one shouldn’t eat Chinese in small towns in Idaho, but that’s just something that falls under the heading of common sense. We knew the risks when we moved into the mountains, but decided it was a fair trade – we get wildfires, sure, but in Southern Cal we got those on top of mudslides, earthquakes and former action stars as governors. On the East coast, they get hurricanes and really bad thunderstorms, where you lose electricity for a week. And then the utility company charges you for the electricity you would have used, if you had electricity, which you don’t, and it’s 100 degrees in the shade and unbearably humid, to boot. In the Midwest, there are tornados, and politicians that pine for the good old days of sweat shops and debtors prisons. And as for Arizona, well, it’s Arizona isn’t it <shudder>. We’ll stay where we’re at (I mean Colorado, since we’re still in Seattle as I write this), and make sure we’ve loaded up with the most comprehensive fire insurance policy allowed by law.
In the meantime, we have some salmon to eat and I believe, if I’m not mistaken, that cherry season has just begun, so I believe I’ll just go have a heaping bowl of nature’s candy.