Nature Woman Faces Nature

My shift was mostly uneventful. Well, there was the crazy patient who said that I looked like "nature." When she looked at me, she saw mountains, trees and, well, nature. Of course, I must hear that all of the time, she said. She was shocked to hear that she was the first to mention it. She figured that people must think it all the time, but just not say anything. I thanked her for her complement. She was sweet, but as I said, crazy. Do you ever get odd complements?


There was only one real problem, which occurred during the last hour of my shift. Sylmar caught on fire. The news was on all of the patient's TV's. I happened to glance out a window and gasped when I saw the flames. Of course, the first thing I did was grab my camera and take a picture from a patient's window.

It didn't pose a direct threat to me, but the wind was blowing it towards the Newhall Pass. That is the only realistic route between the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita. Soon enough, I was on the freeway heading north, roughly towards the fire. I passed through some heavy smoke and violent winds, but made it home safely. A few hours later, the freeways going through the pass were all closed. I'm stranded at home and alone on a Saturday night because I don't have anyone to play with in Santa Clarita.

But, once again, I'm lucky. Nearly 700 homes were lost in the fire. I stayed up half the night watching the fire on TV and from my windows. Even though I live on the opposite side of the mountain, I could see shimmering orange clouds swirling above the mountain top, lighting up the sky. My camera, unfortunately, couldn't capture the eery, gates of Hell effect.

This was the view this morning afternoon when I woke up. The fire was burning on my side of the mountain, but the wind was blowing it back where it came from. The danger isn't entirely over, but things are looking up.