The Lost Watch

One might say, “that’s not a watch!” However the end of last week Michael and I headed to the hot tub and as I walked down the stairs to get into my suit, I took off my watch and thought I need a new band! I have not seen that watch since.

I think the universe was telling me time would stop or time just wasn’t important. I did check every pocket, every drawer, every trash can. I looked behind things and in drawers in case it fell in. I looked under the bed and on random shelves in other rooms. I always put it next to my sink in the bathroom. It simply vanished.

Its been over a week and everyone of my friends that will read this most likely know we don’t worry about Covid or the elections as we simply don’t have the time. We watch all the fire news – we stay inside to avoid the smoke – we take in friends and family who are evacuated. We are blessed with friends to share this tragedy and share the tears. …and wait for this next wind event to end. Rumor has it a hurricane is in the Pacific and when it breaks up it can bring us rain. One hopes it doesn’t bring lightening like the last set of storms that started the biggest fires in the state.

We of course now live full time at the beach and have wonderful to be new owners who are now living in our former Calistoga home. The ghost winery from 1915 is now a ghost and needs a new roof. The trash cans are, well, safe. Why can’t they be burned or melted too!? Our friend Dolly helped us watch over the place over the past couple of years and was residing in the 1922 Road House called the Maples in the front of the property near the highway. You can see her white tub in the rubble. Looking up the property you can still see smoke from a huge fir tree that has fallen across our road preventing access to the back of the property. The bottom right photo is from the first morning and Larkin’s swing set is still smoldering. Many good years on the Michael Walker swing set. He helped us put it all together.

We lost the little workshop, the water storage and treatment plant and the wonderful little cottages from the 1920’s. We had two great girls that enjoyed those cabins. We wish them well as we all go forward. We have not seen photos of those ashes yet. The little barn from years past we’re sure is toast.

This photo was also the first morning. My family is not happy the metal palm tree survived because I want to move it to the beach. There is still green around the house but we are not out of the woods. A wonderful man that works with our neighbors over the past five years was able to get up and check and put out spot fires. Our back deck had a smoldering post. A few railroad ties were also smoldering in our garden area. Egads! But seeing some green is a blessing!

The to be new owners have kept up with the incident command to let them know that there is a home that survived and might need a little TLC! We all wish we could be there and help. We think the fire folks know where our house is now and hope none of the embers blow into areas that could ignite anything still flammable near the house. Blessings for a metal roof, stucco siding, concrete and asphalt parking deck and a pool.

Napa County knows we lost part of our property and we now have paperwork to adjust our taxes. Nationwide is our insurance and they are already on top of what has happened and what we need! They are also trying to keep in contact with incident command as its in their best interest to have our main home still standing when this fire is over!

We look forward to working with the new owners and the insurance company and take the time to make the property even more beautiful! We hear our old home two properties over did not burn but were not sure of our direct neighbors on the west side. We know are eastern neighbors are safe and sound. The Castello Amorosa farm building is gone and we could see their water tower from Larkin’s swing set. The major buildings at the castle survived. Their photos are devastating!

Mom we rescued an hour before mandatory evacuations from Oakmont on Sunday night. We heard about two hour traffic jams just to get out of her subdivision. We were able to go the back way and got mom to the Beach in a little over an hour. Our friends from Angwin were able to come back out for their second evacuation on Sunday morning. The first time was for ten days in August/September so we’ve got the drill down. All of us are still waiting on the weather to calm down and the fire to somewhat subside so we can go to our homes and see the smoke damage or the ashes. We are now five adults and two teenage boys. Plenty of wifi band width. Plenty of space to spread out and disappear. We also have four dogs. Life is interesting.

We all do whatever we want during the day, often running errands together. We exercise only if its not smokey which is seldom for now. When the fog arrives, I cheer! We come together for dinner and cooking has been a delightful way to take my mind off the situation. I get to cook the food I love and watch other people appreciate it! I also am enjoying and sharing The Great British Baking show. I love it!!! I don’t bake sweets often so I am not inclined to try a single recipe. Yippee!

In closing I just wanted to share my feelings and some photos. We know we are blessed and count them everyday between the tears. The watch might show up some day when the universe thinks I’m ready to tell time again. The photo below is the left over sand from our world cruise collection. As I glance out to the ocean right now my eye goes past it and I smile! Margaret River is but a memory that lives in our hearts!