I can't stop getting online every twenty minutes and refreshing the websites I have open that talk about the fires. I've added a new website to my list, a Yahoo Group for the Mountain Communities on which members have been posting what news they can get from scanners and so on. Television news is frustrating and almost useless - they keep showing the same stock clips of the same three houses on fire and never give the specifics I want to know. Just as it sounds like they might be approaching specific news - something I didn't yet know - they cut to some fluff piece about naked women in Grand Central Station or Vampire LARPs. I kid you not.

From what I've last seen, the fires have spread to the neighborhood where my parents' house is. Johnny's Market, in the middle of Valley of Enchantment, has reportedly burned down. Due to the sporadic nature of the "spot fires," it's difficult to know which houses have been affected and which haven't.

I know that we shouldn't hold on too tightly to material things, that rust and ruin affect everything eventually, but my parents have put so much into that house: the extension they had built for my grandmother, the back deck they had extended for my wedding party almost exactly a year ago...when I think about it it makes my heart sick to think of the possibility that it might be gone now.

I keep praying that God will stop the fires from consuming my parents' house, the houses of my friends, our church on Lake Gregory...

The people will survive - they've evacuated - and that's what's most important. Still, I have a lot of love for that community - the physical surroundings as well as the people - and I'm going to miss what's been consumed of it. Anyone who lives there knows that the fires are a natural part of the ecological cycle out there - even though this particular one was set by [@$!&*!] humans - that the forest experiences a certain amount of growth and piling up on the forest floor before a fire is needed to clean it out and make way for new growth; before people settled the area, this would be caused by fires sparked by lightning. Now that people are covering the mountain, this prospect becomes far more difficult. The Fire Department and Forestry Service have controlled burns to see to this need, and people are supposed to keep their homes free of pine needles for this reason...but unfortunately, this fire has been long overdue. Man versus Nature, I guess.

Well, I'm rambling at this point. Back to the websites...

Tangent: In fact, the story about Vampire LARPing was surprisingly balanced and fair, as opposed to past bad experiences with the media - the "Unsolved Mysteries" debacle which I was present to witness rises to mind - and the only mistake they made was claiming that LARPs grew out of computer roleplaying games. However, the folks being shown had some goofy, gaudy costumes (I thought the point of the Masquerade was not to stand out) and it looked like they were playing in a school auditorium. Campaign has truly spoiled me for most LARPing...