It’s hard to believe that it’s already August! Moco and Bubba will be home in 16 days. Auntie Mariah will be home in 17 days — the same day that Moco and Bubba start school! Mariah starts classes the following Monday (8/22). This is peak time at work as well, so August will feel like it’s dragging but at the same time, it will be over before we know it!
Life hasn’t changed much for me… it’s mostly work and hanging out at home with Deacon.
The kids, however, have had a great time with Gamma and Papa. They spent part of their first week in Durango, CO, visiting our friends Linda and Richard — better known as MeeMaw and HoHoHo. They returned to NM just in time for Daddy’s arrival to spend this past weekend with them. I wish I could have been there, too!!! They did a lot of biking and put up a zip line in the backyard. They ate at Rancho de Chimayo, which made me a wee bit jealous, but I’m glad they had the chance to experience one of my favorite places in NM. I know that I can’t be in 100% of the memories that they will have in life… but I’m glad that there is a little piece of me in those particular memories from this weekend.
Also, in typical Gamma and Papa style, they are returning Bubba as a training-wheel-free-biking-riding-machine. Well, okay, except for the fact that he doesn’t really know how to slow down or use his brakes, so he is a little prone to “wipeouts” right now. First potty training, now two-wheel training… they make parenting so much easier for me and Daddy! ;)
Daddy is now back in Tulsa, and the new football players report tomorrow. We’re looking forward to traveling to Tulsa about once a month to see Daddy and to watch some Golden Hurricane football, but this is when reality starts to kick in with this whole long-distance thing!
It’s a good thing, then, that my new ErinCondren.com life planner arrived this weekend, so I can start to organize and plan our weekends between Moco’s travel soccer, Bubba’s rec soccer, trips to Tulsa, and everything else that we have going on! I agonized over the cover design, but finally settled on the “favorite things” cover:
I haven’t used it much yet, so only time will tell how much I love it — but I have a good feeling about it. I absolutely love how the cover looks, and I’m probably going to wear this thing out! I also have to put in a plug for Zulily — which is where I discovered ErinCondren.com when I bought three $50 gift certificates for $20 each (but paid only $45 because I had $15 in referral credit). This planner was quite a deal — but that shouldn’t surprise anyone since I’m always on the hunt for a good bargains!
Anyhow… I’m going to settle in for the evening with the iPad. I downloaded my first real e-book, Catching Fire, which is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. It has taken a bit to get used to swiping to turn the pages, but I have to admit, I’m enjoying the Kindle App for the iPad, so there will be plenty more e-books in my future!!
…when Moco and the Bubs head to NM for a month with Gamma and Papa.
There have been moments over the past few weeks where I pray for a sanity break from their bickering or the attitude that one has developed over the past year and the other has since copied (I’ll let you guess which is which), but whenever I get that break (as in, going to work), I miss them and would rather be with them than doing anything else. Funny how that works, eh?!
Papa will be here at the end of the week to spend the weekend with us before he heads to St. Louis for work and then he will return to fly back with them to NM. A return date has not yet been confirmed, but they start school August 18th, so I expect them to be home around that time — plus or minus a day or two, given that school starts on a Thursday.
Normally Daddy heads home every couple weekends, so he’ll be home this weekend, but then he will head to NM at the end of the month. I have to admit, I’m jealous, and I have debated if I could find my way there on that same weekend. I miss NM terribly, and I’m incredibly grateful that the kids have a place to go after the week-long direct threat of the Las Conchas wildfire. (Okay, let’s be honest, I’m really just craving a ChiliWorks breakfast burrito… but I digress.)
So… what am I to do while the munchkins are in the Land of Enchantment, breathing in hopefully-not-smoky mountain air, biking, playing in their castle, and keeping an eye out for bears? Funny I should ask:
1. Work. Surprise, surprise.
2. Exercise. Is it possible to catch up on 6 months of workouts in 1 month? I will attempt this feat and report back.
3. Pampering myself. The equation I’m aiming for is: “signature pedicure with paraffin treatment” + “spa manicure with French tips” + “60 minute deep tissue massage” = $152 total (before tips) – $140 in gift certificates = one happy, polished mama.
4. Cleaning, organizing and staging the house… because it’s no secret that we’re putting our house on the market as we get ready to transition to Tulsa. This may include a garage sale, which I’ve never actually done before. Suggestions? Advice?
5. Reconfiguring recipes to feed one. It’s going to be incredibly hard to grocery shop for just me!
6. Talking to Deacon. And myself. Because it will be *that* quiet around here.
7. Trip to IKEA. I need to replace our duvet because I might have fallen asleep with an uncapped pen in my hand one night. If I can walk out of that store with just a duvet and a belly full of Swedish meatballs, that would be amazing… but let’s be real, folks, because we know that’s not going to happen.
8. Order a new Erin Condren planner. I have been a devoted family_time.mine user, but I saw these, and I had to have one. I bought several gift certificates for this company via Zulily, and I’m just waiting for July 20th, when I can begin to put together my custom order for the newest version. All this excitement for a planner? You wish you lived my life.
9. Miss my man. Football pre-season is fast approaching. He won’t be home until December at the earliest, January if it’s a really good season. Of course, we want them to have a great season, but that’s just a really loooooooong time…
10. Miss my kids. No ifs, ands, or buts about it… they are my life, and I will miss them every minute that they are gone!
Another school year is coming to a close… seriously, where does the time go?!?!
Bubba’s last day of school is this coming Thursday, and Moco’s last day will be the Friday after Memorial Day.
Looking ahead to our summer, we’re going to be very, very busy! Moco has already started softball practices, and her first game is June 1. Bubba starts t-ball the first full week of June. So far we have one softball clinic (maybe two, if we decide to try a hitting clinic at a facility here in town), one session of swimming lessons (maybe two, as we’re on a waiting list), and a soccer camp (maybe two, if we sign them up for one in NM) lined up for the summer. We bought pool passes for the family and Jenny — who also has volleyball open gym several afternoons a week, so the kids get to tag along with her while she’s practicing. Hopefully they’re not disruptive… I’ve already given them permission to take their Nintendo DSes with them on those days — it will be their “down time”. Honestly, there are days when Bubba has t-ball at 9am and Moco has softball at 8pm. I have a feeling these kids will be tan, tired, and totally fit by the time school starts!
In addition to the activities, we have trips to Iowa, North Carolina, and New Mexico planned. If we can squeeze in a trip to Tulsa, that will make for quite a bit of traveling. We honestly have very few free Saturdays (um, like, none?), but our Sundays will be wonderful days of rest and relaxation! (Ha!)
The kids will be in NM for about a month and later than the past few years. My parents are very accommodating given our funky family situation right now. Papa has a business trip in St. Louis in late July and will be able to take the kids to NM for me since he’ll be in the area. If I can convince Gamma to bring them back and stay with us the week that school starts, we have our entire childcare situation squared away! I have to admit, I’m a little emotional about the kids going to NM this year. It’ll be a lot more lonely this time around!!!
I have already heard that basically I’m nuts for the type of schedule that we have this summer… but the kids want to do the team sports and camps. They love being active and outdoors, and I would rather them be doing these things than hanging out in the house bored and driving Jenny up the wall. Both kids had input in their activities, but R had to reign me in a little with a few of the camps. And we’re looking forward to seeing family… to see the cousins and the cousins’ kids twice in three months is awesome — and on the beach, no less!!!
Honestly, the time will fly by… plus there will be plenty to write about weekly, if not daily!!! I say, “Bring it, Summer!” because we’re ready for some fun! :)
Tio Gabi, Kitty Cat, and Louie left for Grand Junction on Sunday morning, so the rest of us headed out for a hike on Mitchell Trail to the Natural Arch. I enjoyed playing photojournalist with Papa and Gamma’s new digital camera!
The clear blue skies and sunshine allowed for great views of Los Alamos, Pajarito Mountain, and the Sangre de Cristos. It has been years since I hiked this trail, and it looks quite different from the last time I was there — well before the Cerro Grande fire. It still breaks my heart to see the burnt trees and bare landscape, more than 10 years later, but I miss it, love it, and appreciate the beauty of northern NM more each time we visit!
Gamma and Papa
Fallen log by the arch
Playing around on logs on the trail — Tio Javi the Sloth, Moco pointing out Crazy Gamma the Tree Hugger, our very own Cousin Itt and Papa posing for an awkward family photo, and a cute shot of Moco.
The lack of snow in Northern NM means that we won’t get any skiing, snowboarding, or snowshoeing in during this visit, unless we head to Wolf Creek this week. Looks like we’ll be doing lots of hiking instead… we don’t mind, as we’re soaking up the rays and the fresh air while we can!!!
Gamma brought the kids to NM from IL last Sunday. Tio Gabi and Kitty Cat arrived on Monday from CO, and Tio Javi and I both arrived on Xmas Eve (he drove from CA, I flew from IL). The kids helped put up farolitos around the house. (This Southwestern tradition symbolizes the journey of Mary and Joseph from house to house looking for shelter in Bethlehem before Jesus was born.) We had a late supper (lobster tails, jamón serrano, chorizo, manchego, and olives) before the kids left Rice Krispies treats and milk for Santa an a couple of carrots for the reindeer.
The weather in NM is beautiful — clear skies, sunshine, and high 30s/low 40s. We wish there was more snow for skiing and snowboarding, but we’re thrilled to be visiting and spending time with family. Just wish Daddy could have joined us. He spent two days in IA before heading back to IL to work!
It’s the month to give thanks! Each day this month, I posted about the things and people for which I’m thankful on Facebook. Here’s a recap (with a few modifications):
11/1 - Today I’m thankful for my other half, Daddy ♥, who is also celebrating his birthday today! 10 years, 2 kids, 1 dog, a new house, a bucket list, and still so many adventures ahead of us!
11/2 - Today I’m thankful for Moco and Bubba, and all the laughter, love and joy they bring to my life. I have learned a lot about fortitude, patience, courage, respect, responsibility, tolerance, flexibility, accountability, prudence, discipline, faith, hope, humility, justice, loyalty, selflessness, trust, trustworthiness, and (of course) love through my children. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be their mama!
11/3 - Today I am thankful for the random little moments in life that make me grin — like Bubba insisting that we raise our water bottles and say “cheers!” as we started supper or our Vizsla draped over Daddy’s lap and loving every minute of the attention…
11/4 - Even though it’s a 12 hour workday, today I am thankful for my job and my career in higher education. On this evening’s agenda: educating prospective students and their parents on the benefits of the community college experience! Go Hawks!
11/5 - Today I am thankful for the inevitability of change and the opportunity to take a deep breath, re-evaluate the landscape, and keep on keeping on.
“Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there.”
~John Kotter
11/6 - Today I’m thankful for the opportunity to sleep in! Woke up with curls in my nose, with my boy snuggled up next to me, while R, Moco & Deacon are pheasant hunting.
11/7 - Today I am thankful to be able to spoil my kids a little: cinnamon butterbraid for breakfast, Megamind in 3D, then trading in leftover Halloween candy for FREE Noodles (kids under 12 only). Trading candy for noodles is spoiling, right?!
11/8 - Today I am thankful for the influence of Auntie Mariah on my children. I think.
11/9 - Today I am thankful for my parents for more reasons than I could possibly list… and we’re looking forward to heading “home” to New Mexico for Xmas!!!
11/10 - Tonight Bubba said he wanted ‘the song about 2nd base’. We couldn’t figure it out, but then George Strait performed on CMAs: ”Life’s not the breaths you take/The breathing in and out/That gets you through the day/Ain’t what it’s all about/Ya just might miss the point/Try’n to win the race/Life’s not the breaths you take/But the moments that take your breath away”. Today I’m thankful for that reminder.
11/11 - Today I am thankful for the service men and women who serve and sacrifice for our country as well as the families and friends that love and support them!!!
11/12 - Today I am thankful for Sherry and all she has done for our family over the past 4+ years. She has helped shape Bubba’s sense of humor, his love for Troy Polamalu & the Steelers, and his attachment to a fringed piece of fleece named Boo. It’s hard to find people you can trust with your children, but we’re fortunate to have Sherry and her family in our lives!!!
11/13 - Today I am thankful for a final game win vs. EIU and a winning season for the Redbirds. I am also thankful for a full house with “Uncle” Tommy, Uncle Danny, Aunt Lisa, and Cousin Mattie this weekend!!!
11/14 - Today I am thankful for our new house and those who help us fill it with love and laughter. This weekend the table leaf came out… every bed and couch was claimed… wings, pizza, honey crisp apple cider, & Dunkin’ Donuts coffee were consumed in obscene amounts. My only complaint is that the weekend went by so quickly!!!
“The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it.”
~Author Unknown
11/15 - Today I am thankful for my brothers, Tío Javi and Tío Gabi. We have had a lot of fun times over the years, and some not-as-fun times (thank goodness they outgrew the pesky little brothers stage), but I’m very proud to be their sister… and I can’t wait to see them next month!!!
11/16 - Today I’m thankful to start my morning at 5:45am for a 35 minute walk with the dog. My cheeks are rosy and my thighs are numb, but I feel productive already…
11/17 - Today I am thankful for the funny things my kids say. This morning Moco told me, “Dinosaurs aren’t house broken, you know” while explaining a short play about cavemen. And Bubba told me, “You smell like beef and cheddar”… to which I conveniently replied, “You mean I don’t smell like Santa?”
11/18 - Today I am thankful for Unks, the sister-in-law otherwise known as Auntie Mariah. She took us up on an offer to live with us while she knocks out her first two years of college, and we’re glad she’s here… although she’s probably thinking “3 months down, 17 more before I can escape these fools!!!”
11/19 - Today I am thankful for the AAWCC Lunch & Learn with Terry Mullin… he made 12 different holiday hors d’oeuvres and and desserts in one hour in Heartland’s new demo kitchen. The baked brie and caramel pie were out of this world!
11/20 - Today I am thankful for a weekend with Papa! After a lazy morning at home, he took Moco & Bubba to the park. Auntie Mariah & I made homemade hibachi chicken & veggies with rice and a caramel pie. Papa and the kids are going to watch a movie OnDemand while Auntie Mariah & I see Harry Potter!!!
11/21 - Today I am thankful for the creativity and frugality that runs in our family… Moco saw a doll bunk bed she wanted, but Papa and I decided we could probably do something for cheaper. Two free boxes from Sam’s Club, four pieces of wood @ 97¢ each, a few minutes with a hot glue gun — and here it is! Still needs to be decorated and mattresses & bedding added, but it fits 2 American Girl dolls perfectly!
11/22 - Today I am thankful for the last couple hours of peace & quiet, just lounging in bed with the laptop. Kids are asleep, Daddy and Deacon are out of town… sometimes I just need some “me” time while still in the comfort of my own home, you know?
11/23 - Yesterday I was thankful that Daddy called to say he was headed back from Kansas. Except now it’s today and he won’t be home for several more hours… but at least he’s on the way!
11/24 - Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday bc it’s all about food, family & friends. Growing up, we spent many Thanksgivings with our Iowa State “family”. Today I am thankful for our spin on tradition: Daddy & I are also Iowa State grads and now spend turkey days with family in Iowa. We wish we could spend the day with all of our extended family & friends… much ♥ to each and every one of you!
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.
Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”
~ Jane Howard
11/25 – Happy Thanksgiving! Today I continue to be thankful for everyone and everything I have posted about each day this month… Here’s to family, friends, food, health, happiness & love this holiday season and always!
11/26 - Today am I thankful for a dog who hardly ever barks. The guests across the hall went out for the evening and theirs won’t stop!!!
11/27 - Today I am thankful for another great day with my family. Sleeping in with Daddy & the kids, spending time with Grandma Lavera & Great Grandma, driving back in the crammed truck, grocery shopping and prepping meals with Auntie Mariah… I wish these long weekends didn’t have to come to an end!
11/28 - Today I am thankful for a second turkey dinner… but I’m thoroughly stuffed and ready to get back on track! Headed to bed so I can get up early for a workout!!!
11/29 - Today I am thankful for moments like these… I would have taken a picture of Moco, too, but her hygienist was lightning fast!
I have said this before, but Gamma and Papa love to bike. They ride regularly and sometimes they race in centuries or half-centuries, but mostly they just bike for the enjoyment of the exercise, being outdoors, and seeing a lot of things along the way. Moco and Bubba seem to be getting into it as well. They have their own bikes at Gamma and Papa’s house, and they ride every day. Yesterday, they rode 3 miles in 38 minutes around Papa and Gamma’s neighborhood. This is quite a feat for these kiddos, especially when you see the ridiculous inclines. ”Flat” there is like “OMG! Super Steep!” in Midwestern terms. But Moco is doing awesome on her gear bike, and Bubba apparently does ALL the work on the tandem so that Papa doesn’t have to pedal EVER. *wink*
When Daddy saw this picture, he said “They totally have her geared up!” Ha! (Very accommodating! I repeat. Very accommodating!) We’re excited that the kids enjoy biking, and I hope this means that we’ll be able to do some family riding here in Illinois as well!
Today Gamma took the kids hiking on Canada Bonita trail with Cassie, Ethan, Isabele and Mick (the dog).
There are so many outdoor activities available in the mountains of New Mexico. Taking a walk around our neighborhood in Illinois doesn’t compare to the options around Gamma and Papa! I’m so glad they are staying active and having a great time, but I have to admit, I’m hitting the point where I’m really, really missing them!
Tomorrow marks one week since Moco and Bubba left for New Mexico.
Daddy and I have kept ourselves busy trying to figure out purchases for the house (new couches and a bookseller shelf for the living room), going on weekday date nights, and taking walks together in the sticky, gross humidity. Tonight we went to the Dynamites game; Daddy was the substitute coach tonight and did an awesome job with the girls! The only thing missing was Moco, of course! We brought her bat to the game, and the girls ripped a lot of hits. (Moco must have left some of her slugging power on the Easton!) It definitely made me miss the kids to be at a game and not have them there!
I get to “see” them every day, though, as Gamma sends me several text messages with pictures of the kids attached. I absolutely love it! I check my cell phone much more frequently these days to see what Moco and Bubba are up to in New Mexico. The list and pictures include:
riding tandem with Papa
working on the “treehouse”
being goofy
watering Gamma’s flowers
refilling bike helmet bird feeder
I also received a text message from Moco (from Gamma’s phone):
“Me n G are having lunch BLT n Avocado bagel sandwiches and strawberries. We miss you and daddy. We are having fun here. From M”
I also received my first video clip text message of Moco and Bubba! When I played the video on the computer tonight and turned up the volume, Deacon looked all over for them and then just whined and moped when they didn’t appear.
He’s probably whining and moping because he didn’t get to run around under the hose with them on a hot day!
Moco and Bubba are headed to New Mexico with Gamma and Papa in just eight short days! Papa will be working in Michigan next week, so he arranged his flight back to NM with a layover in Chicago to pick them up at the airport. This is going to be quite the adventure for all three of them! It’s an evening flight (well past their regular bedtime) on a Friday night. Hopefully they’ll get some sleep and travel well for Papa, despite their excitement.
In any event, Moco and I had a discussion this morning about creating her own blog so that she can write about their adventures from her perspective. We struck a deal and decided she can “guest post” on The Adventures of Moco & Bubba. She already has an email account (that never gets used) so I set her up with a WordPress account so she can join in the fun of writing online!
Of course, that sparked a “that’s not fair!” response from Bubba, who insisted that he get his own email account. Easy enough. So, both kids now have their own email addresses, but I’m guessing only one has even the slightest clue what that really means! :)
So… be on the lookout for some posts by Moco! We’ll have to come up with a catchy theme to identify her posts. I was thinking “Ojo de Moco” essentially means “In the Eye of Moco” but that fails to translate “Moco”. Moco = Mucus. So, basically, it means Snotty Eye.
I personally think that’s funny and cute, but I have a feeling Miss Moco will have a very different opinion on the matter…
Earlier this week I was reminded that this week is the 10 year anniversary of the Cerro Grande fire in my hometown of Los Alamos. Several of my high school friends who also blog mentioned writing about the fire from our individual perspectives on the tenth anniversary of the evacuations, so here it goes… from my perspective.
Honestly, it feels weird chiming in, as I wasn’t even living in New Mexico at the time. I was in college in Tacoma, finishing my senior year of college; in fact, it was finals week. I still remember getting a phone call from Laura Beth, also from Los Alamos and going to school at Puget Sound. She was crying and told me to turn on the news; I flipped on CNN… and there were aerial views of the high school, the hospital, the bridge… and the outline of a house engulfed in flames. I remember saying, “Ohmygosh, that’s Erica’s house!” and then sitting down in front of the television for quite a while. About 1500 miles from home, and not a thing I could do. (I think about it now, and we barely used cell phones then, and texting really didn’t even exist!)
Los Alamos was evacuated first, on May 10, 2000. Some family friends came down to stay with my parents in White Rock, which was still “safe”. My mom had packed up all the photo albums and set them by the front door with all the important financial and house paperwork – just in case they had to evacuate. (Family photographs are one of my mom’s most prized possessions; when she left Vietnam, they were not able to take many things with them, and only a few pictures made it to the United States. It would break her heart to lose any more pictures, so she was prepared to take them with her. As she says, furniture and clothes can be replaced… but those family pictures and the memories they capture cannot.) They weren’t in White Rock for very long — as that area was evacuated as well, on May 11th.
I remember my mom telling me what it was like to get the pre-recorded phone call, ordering the evacuation of White Rock. It was a mad dash of packing up vehicles, closing up the house, and getting into that long line of cars to leave town. And the lines weren’t moving very quickly at all. They made it safely to Nambe, to the house of our family friends Linda and Richard. That weekend, my family flew to Tacoma to spend graduation weekend with me. Everything I knew about the fire was through TV and phone calls. I don’t even remember if there was much online at that point to keep me updated; there probably was, but I don’t remember being glued to my computer like I would be now. That time is such a blur to me because it was straight chaos with finals, graduation, stress, packing, family, etc. My family returned to New Mexico; I think the evacuation order was lifted around the same time they got back from Tacoma. That week after graduation, I remember seeing the pictures of people lined up to get their mail, of the buses driving people through town to see the damage, and reading the list of addresses that had been destroyed. It still breaks my heart to think of what it must have been like for so many people that I know (and don’t know) who were right there, watching the mountains and the town burn from such a close distance.
After graduation, I spent about eight weeks traveling through Europe with Kim, so it was July before I returned to New Mexico. I remember joining my mom to run some errands that first day home; we headed up to Los Alamos from White Rock in the car. We were chatting away, and I looked up as we came around a bend in the road. At that moment, I had my first view of the Jemez… and I had totally forgotten about the fire. I immediately burst into tears. I was shocked at how individual trees stood like toothpicks scattering the mountain. No green, no leaves, no branches. Nothing.
My mom couldn’t figure out why I was crying at first, and then it hit her as quickly as it hit me: “You haven’t been home since the fire…” We put off the errands, and my mom drove me through the neighborhoods. It still makes me sick to my stomach. It was like the town had been bombed. Homes were reduced to rubble in their lots, one after another. Tires on cars had completely melted away… It was haunting to see a pink and white plastic playset that survived in a blackened yard. It was awful looking down streets, imagining what the neighborhoods had looked like before the fire and remembering who had lived in which houses. My heart broke over and over and over again for friends, classmates, teachers, coworkers… 400 homes and 48,000 acres burned. Over one billion dollars in damages, all due to a controlled burn in drought conditions and incredibly high winds. Amazingly, not a single person lost their life in the fire.
My parents purchased a lot to build a new home about a year or so after the fire in a development called Quemazon (Spanish: burning or burnt). I particularly like the description given on Wikipedia: “A place called Quemazon typically is a high mountain valley or canyon with abundant aspens, specifically Populus tremuloides. These stands of aspens result from catastrophic wildfires; succession after such fires typically begins with scrub oak, followed by aspens for many decades or centuries, followed eventually by conifers such as ponderosa pine.” There are pictures at Los Alamos Woods Wanderer that are views from near where my parents live — Quemazon the subdivision and Quemazon the high mountain canyon with aspens after a catastrophic wildfire…
You know, there has always been something comforting about the view of the Jemez, that beautiful back drop to our home town. It’s the background to our soccer pictures on Sullivan Field and pictures of senior year Homecoming Week, making the trek to repaint the LA and add our class year to the rocks. The landscape will never return to the way I remember them growing up. That view really is the back drop to life in Los Alamos, and you can’t escape the way it has changed… Los Alamos has rebuilt and recovered, but it will never be the same. I think what I will miss most is the sight of the mountain changing from green to gold in the fall, when the aspens changed. That view, those aspens, that fire, those colors…. it’s hard to explain, but I know those of you who grew up there know exactly what I mean!
If you want to read a couple more accounts about the Cerro Grande fire, check out Gina’s and Nikki’s blogs. They were actually living in Los Alamos at the time, and Gina lost her childhood home in the fire. I have included several links to pictures, videos, reports, etc. below:
(By the way, when I started writing this on Monday, I had just opened the Los Alamos Monitor website to see if there was a news story about the anniversary of the fire. Instead, the top news story at that moment was a high wind warning. How ironic.)
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