Little bit of rain not enough to douse the brushfires

But not close enough.

.

We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too.

I survived a wildfire evac at age 6. I have been very paranoid about fire ever since. It was years before I could hold a sparkler or sit by a campfire. My family doesn't use the fireplace when I'm home. I check fire danger before traveling to certain areas because I won't sleep if the fire danger is high.

I used to feel alone in this. I knew nobody outside my family who had these experiences.

Over 50 years later, my closest neighbors have been traumatized by wildfire, too. One grew up in rural mountains of Nevada, another neighbor's sister lost her home in 2018 in California, a third just joined the chat after visiting family in Colorado for the holidays at the end of 2021 and having to flee with her elderly parents. And while knowing that four people wake up immediately when the smoke rolls in at 3am and are out looking for that fire gives me a sense of security, it also makes me enormously sad that it has come to this.