Another brush fire, but this one scarily close. We have been put on evacuation warning, which means that you are not actually obliged to leave your home, but you are strongly advised to seek shelter outside the evacuation area.
Most people take it as a sign to look very hard at everything they have, decide what they really want to take with them in the event of a mandatory order, pack it up, and be ready to go at a moment’s notice. However this might not come for some time, if ever.
So it’s basically a case of hurry up and wait.
I’ve packed the essential things – the teapot, photographs, paintings, my computers, my nerdy music software, a few beloved books, the children’s teddies etc. and located the important documents like passports, insurance policies, birth certificates and so forth and badgered Husband until he loaded them into the car.
We bickered pleasantly for a bit over which clothes we thought we should take; all of them (me) or just a pair of socks (him). We elected to follow our own instincts in the end and I have a giant suitcase and he has .. a pair of socks.
Then we argued, less pleasantly, over whether we should actually go now or wait for the mandatory order. I was in favour of leaving sooner for a friend’s house who had thoughtfully phoned to offer his family’s guest room, but Husband was in favour of staying put as he thought the risk was negligible of the fire reaching us and he thought the children would
“..think it’ll be fun to go to a shelter in the middle of the night. It will be an adventure!”
I was so appalled by this spectacularly ill considered thought that I could no longer speak so I just finished my packing and gave in with the caveat that he had to stay up all night and listen to the news on his own, I was going to bed, and that we would not go to a shelter or wake our friends up in the awful case of being evacuated, we’d go to a hotel. Once this was agreed, I felt better and headed off to bed, completely exhausted and desperate for sleep.
Instead of going straight to sleep, though, I Twittered about the fire for an hour, and now I’m writing this.
Very stupid. I really, really hope we are not forced to go. Even more I really hope our house doesn’t get burned down. I can’t bear to think of all we would lose. Not so much because it would cost us money to replace it, but all of the memories that would be lost.
That’s what would really burn me up.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hang in there (not necessarily literally). You are showing great restraint, I would be tempted to leave without husband myself. Keep safe, ’stuff’ is only in the end ’stuff’, you and your family are infinitely more important. Thinking of you. x
Late developer’s last blog post..Farewell Pit of Gloom. You won’t be missed.
I hope you’re still home and that your husband was (galling though it is to admit the possibility) right… Although,if it does come to the worst, at least you can comfort yourself with the thought that might you not actually say ‘I told you so’ just yet, it’s always there as ammo for the future.
Potty Mummy’s last blog post..Don’t shoot the messenger
Crikey – poor you. I have no idea what I’d pack if I had to leave the house in a hurry. I’d probably spend far too long dithering and get burnt alive. Here’s hoping you can stay put (at least until your little trip to London)!
Maternal Tales’s last blog post..Responsibilities and head wounds (again)!
Its funny how people react to things – I would have guessed at your husband being conservative and cautious and you being more in the spirit of adventure.
I hope (of course) that the fire does not harm your house (or others). I have a friend who is an artist and his parents house was burned in the tea garden fire and a lot of his art works were destroyed. But the people he loves were okay.
That is not a way to live. But I’ve been there.
I grew up in the perpetually drought state of Texas, where all summer was a series of brush fires. We’d take the highway into town and the sides of the road would be smouldering, and we’d watch things catch on fire.
Five or six houses would go up at a time, and we’d all hold our breaths. NOT fun, but eventually you just sort of get used to it.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed for you and your house, because we all know that irrational superstition is just what we need at a time like this.
The Mother’s last blog post..Galileo was Framed (The Scientific Method)
It’s like being on red alert – move if necessary. Not fun. I’ve been caught up in a few similar things myself…..and lucky to escape with the clothes on my back. Hang in there, it might not happen. Thinking of you. x
Rebel Mother’s last blog post..Thank You
Hope the worst doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to pack like that: i have just spent the past week packing our house up.
nappyvalleygirl’s last blog post..Visas, vivas, weddings and Wallace & Gromit
Jeez. Bit of a strange comment by hubby. I know what you mean. I think this comes from being a mother, frankly, that sort of comment is just SO not funny, but they dont get it. I’m also Australian, and our bushfires recently made us all take that stuff a bit more seriously. Hope everything went ok…
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Hey Mothership! Hope things are OK with you. I’ve given you an award over at mine for having such a fucking fabulous blog. Hope things are working out with you. RM x
Rebel Mother’s last blog post..Thank You
Yikes, poor you.
We were on tornado warning a couple of week-ends ago, and there were some risky signs nearby. It’s scary.
Iota’s last blog post..Shadowy Husband