Well, we finally got pictures of our house.
As you can see, there’s not much left. The picket fence was outside of the grass lawn that was around the front and side of the house.
There used to be a couple of storage sheds to this side, and my husbands truck is crispy, too.
It is sobering to look at – so little remains. But, we are OK. We will continue to be OK. Our friends and families have rallied around us and we are humbled and overwhelmed with the generosity both of people we know and those that we don’t know. There are positive parts to all of this – the opportunity to become truly “minimalist”. The opportunity to find out who our friends really are. The moment of clarity when having to make decisions on what material goods are truly important to us.
We are struggling with insurance right now… The county officials have yet to make it in to our neighborhood, despite it being the first evacuated on Sunday, the first burned, the first…. They say due to active fires in the area still. Pockets of unburned fuel are igniting still and… Until the officials make it to our house and declare it officially gone and put our address on the official list … we don’t get much insurance money. It is extremely frustrating. We spent the day shaking and beating the government trees, calling in favors from people we hadn’t talked to in a year (who were much better connected politically) and still…
But, we have a deposit on an RV here in San Antonio where we are staying. We have a week to get the money from insurance that we need to buy it. We had added a rider to our policy that provides money for living expenses should we be displaced from our home – it will pay for the RV. If you don’t have this on your policy, I highly recommend it!
Rosie is struggling with all of this. Bedtimes are hard. She keeps saying that she wants to sleep in her bed at home. I finally told her that our house has an “owie” and that is why we’re staying at her aunts house. She did not like my answer, but seems better about it today. She has more than enough clothes right now, and we’re working on the toys. She will be OK. Plus, our future RV doesn’t have much storage space anyways!
As of now, 35,000 acres have burned in this fire alone. It is, as of Friday night, still only 40% contained. Electric utility officials told us today (when we were shaking the tree) that though right now, the destroyed home total is only 1,300 or so, it will reach at least 2,000 by the time this is all done.
And the best news of the week… the weather guys are now telling us that La Nina, who caused this horrible drought this summer, she is back for the next year. It is so very discouraging to face another year like this after what we have been through this past week.
Please keep Bastrop, Texas in your thoughts and help out if you can. I will be talking about emergency readiness and planning in the coming weeks, and maybe some tips on not procrastinating, too!
Thank you for all of your support… Love ya!
