sad news

We have a running joke about the L.A. television media, about how they blow everything out of proportion - "STORM WATCH 2000 - OUR LIVE NONSTOP WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE" of a little rain shower.
This time, though, the nonstop wall-to-wall coverage is needed, because the news is that big, that scary, that incredible to watch.
We've had the fire news on all day, and it's still fascinating. When a fire dies down in one area (Canyon Country or Saugus, for example - or Malibu), it flares up majorly somewhere else (Westridge/Stevenson Ranch on the west side of I-5, or Lake Arrowhead, or Orange County). It's fascinating but heartbreaking all at the same time. A dozen-plus homes have been destroyed in town, and 600 structures in San Diego County. Hard to fathom.
Here's another view from outside our home - this is from near the trash cans and the carport on the perimeter of our complex. This is the Westridge fire. Now on Sunday, we attended a church that meets at West Ranch High School, a new school in this new community of Westridge. When we were leaving, along with the high winds, we noticed some smoke on the horizon. We checked the news when we got to the car and learned about all the fires. Today, we saw the field behind the school's baseball field on fire.
In a separate fire, the one that moved from Agua Dulce to Canyon Country to Saugus Sunday and Monday, local landmark Lombardi Ranch was reportedly burned up. This makes me so sad, as I grew up going to Lombardi's this time of year, and we just went there a few days ago with Andy and Jen. In fact, I hadn't even posted these photos yet here. I'm so glad we made it there this year with Cora.
Surprisingly, the air quality hasn't been too bad Monday at our home. The strong winds were taking all the smoke away from us. We even took a walk in the evening (with the new stroller of course). We figure we'd better walk outside while we can, because when the winds die down the air quality is sure to plunge.