I was spending some vacation time up in the hills with my mom. It felt like someplace in the Tehachapis, though I can't say for sure, since I've only ever been as far as Lake Isabella. I spent a few lazy days mucking about in the creek, observing frogs and the like, and then the fire weather hit.
I decided that it would be a good idea to head back to LA on foot. Not such a good idea, really. I spent an inordinate amount of time navigating a small ridge, just trying to get to the main highway that runs through Kern Canyon. I kept getting mired down in mud or finding terrain that was too steep to navigate and having to retrace my steps.
I wound up back at the B&B, which was run by Gracie and Jere, an unlikely pair, but significant perhaps, since both were influential surrogates for me growing up. Grace was my alternate grandma, while Jere was my stepmom, my dad's second wife. My mom and I were just packing our things, since we'd heard there was a fire in the area, and we wanted to be ready to go at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, the wind picked up, and smoke began to fill the horizon to the east. Our packing took on a more urgent pace as we scanned the news channels, looking for any kind of information about the fire.
"Why don't we just leave?" I implored. "I have had many fire evacuation dreams, and I'm pretty sure this is the real thing. We need to go, NOW!"
Between the two of us, I had been through several fire evacuations, and had been caught in the middle of a wildfire, so she took my word for it. We stopped packing, grabbed what we could and headed for the door.
I had left some keys in a pair of pants in a laundry bag, hanging in the bathroom, and I went back to fish them out. Every second that I spent digging through the clothes felt like an eternity, and eventually, the urgency of the situation compelled me to just grab the whole bag and go. We could sort out the laundry situation some other time.
Outside the wind howled, and the sky darkened, illuminated only by the embers carried by the wind and the spot fires they created when they touched down. Our prospects didn't look good, and I woke up before we ever managed to leave the hotel.
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