hello friends. a brief stint at home and then i scooted back up the coast to santa babs.
it’s been shocking to see the charred hillsides and mountains behind the towns of carpinteria, montecito, and SB. the now infamous thomas fire, roared through these canyons, over the mountains, and valleys and burned over a thousand homes and nearly 280 thousand acres of land. biggest wildfire in california’s recorded history. the seaside town of ventura was hit especially hard – many hundreds of homes lost. i could plainly see scorched land and burned palm trees nearly to the ocean as i drove northwest on hwy 101.
here in santa barbara, i’m staying high up in mission canyon which escaped the fire by a few miles. everyone was evacuated. i almost didn’t come, but the woman i’m renting a little studio from insisted that it was safe, so i went ahead with the plans i’d made back in october.
the fire is 89% contained (and no danger whatsoever of expanding) with about 700 firefighters still working the fire. this is down from over 8000 who were doing battle a couple of weeks ago with an inferno that was fed by bone dry brush and gale force winds.
all over town there are handmade signs to the brave firefighters who saved these communities. i’ve seen messages written in christmas lights on walls and fences, hanging from roofs, taped to light posts, erected in front yards, painted on cardboard. it’s a moving thing to see. so many people so grateful that they didn’t lose their homes.
and here i am, thinking about the new year. writing, reading, painting, napping, walking, enjoying the views from this beautiful canyon that was spared.
hope you’re enjoying these last days of december by yourself or with family. send me a postcard. let me know how you are. xo
I’ve seen pictures of the blackened hills, taken by friends in Carp. My place was spared but I was freaking out trying to get accurate information on the fire from way out here in Naples, FL. In September, while I was in Carp, Hurricane Irma freaked me out as it directly hit Naples. Jeez. I need a calm new year. I hope 2018 is kind to you. Travel on.
Hi Mary Ann,
So sad about the devastating fires in Cali. Something has to be done about the fires that are created by people’s mistakes.
The studio looks lovely.
Dave’s mom passed away on Christmas Day, so we’re in the throes of that now.
I’ve just been doing a lot of coloring lately in my The Coloring Studio book from Somerset Studios, 110+ pages of coloring inspiration, using my wonderful Copic, Spectrum, and Sharpie markers.
That’s all she wrote.
Happy New Year to you!
Hi Mary Ann,
It has been a while since I commented but I’ve kept up with your journeys hither and yon. It is good for you to take some time for yourself. My late sister, Charlotte, used to say that it would give your soul time to catch up to your body. 😉
Christmas came and went with a whoosh around here. In a couple of days my husband and I are driving up to North Georgia to meet more family members, including our son and his family. We will give our three grandchildren their Christmas gifts after we are there since we didn’t see them on Christmas. Two of my nieces and their spouses will be there and my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. So it will be a nice family gathering but not a mob. LOL We are staying in a cabin on a mountain north of Atlanta. We will celebrate the New Year there and it should be lots of fun. We do this every other year and my oldest niece and I spend 6 months planning and house hunting. We will play games, have a costume night (60s theme), set up a photo booth and just hang out in the hot tub and watch the snow fly. I am bringing a box of collage materials, as that has turned out to be one of our favorite activities. It should be a fun, relaxing week.
Hope you enjoy whatever you do to ring in 2018!
a snowy cabin with a collaging niece. sounds really swell marcia. happy new year!
My heart has been crying for my beloved state for weeks now ~ and in particular for the central coast area. Bless you for showing the good that remains.
And DOUBLE blessings for all the firefighters ~ some of our local guys are there, too.
Stay safe ~
so much good. yes! and the new growth in the burned forest will be wonderful. fires are so good for the forests, but alas so bad for the people. i have loved firefighters ever since a kitten i had got his little head stuck in the back of the stove (outside) and some patient wonderful guys oiled him up and got him out with such tenderness.
So glad you’re there.., I left the sad burned out hills behind today driving to greener Northern California… hope all the homemade firefighter gratitude banners stay up for a good long time
( love the gracias bomberos ones too !)… we owe them so much, xox
i saw how close the fires came to the ranch. must’ve been terrifying to see those flames burning on those hills! so glad you came out okay. xoxo enjoy your hidey hole up north.