En fuego

After a giant pity-party, the guest of honor being my current situation, I was once again remind just how fortunate I am. Take, for example, living at Rondinelli manor. Toni & Jim, whom I met in September when they moved from New Jersey and I started babysitting for them, have taken me in like one of their own. I feel like a slightly older, very fortunate foster child. They prefer to think of me as their east coast exchange student, and Saturday night at dinner another couple asked if I was their 18-year-old daughter from a first marriage. (There's a compliment hidden in there somewhere). I'm so spoiled, to the point where I'm dreading going back to my parents' house. "What, no home-made waffles on Sunday morning? Eggo's and Aunt Jemima? I miss Toni and Jim..."


Last weekend Toni and I went to Disneyland for a night, and this past weekend they booked a night away in Mexico. We drove down early yesterday morning, stopped for lunch on our way to La Bufadora, and then headed back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon by the pool. At lunch we noticed a large plume of smoke rising out of one of the valleys. By dinner time, the smoke was becoming much more pronounced in the region. After Luca went to sleep, Toni and Jim went for a walk and saw the fire cresting over the next ridge. When I stepped outside I could smell it.


And so my trip to lovely Ensenada, Mexico, was cut short because it caught on fire. O.K., I'm being slightly dramatic, we weren't evacuated, but we all learned a lesson in October and saw how fast these things can move, and when you're in Mexico (where they don't have the same resources and a laissez-faire attitude translates into "let it burn") with a 15-month-old child and a woman who is 5 months preggers, why take any chances.


I am so done with the Pacific southwest. We may get nor'easters back home, but fire is just so much more biblical than snow. And when was the last time someone got killed by a shark at Hampton Beach? (Note: that happened across the street from my old apartment).


On a side note, while I didn't avail myself of any of the farmacia's offerings, I do appreciate such a healthy outlook on life in an area struggling with so much poverty and violence.




A good lesson for all: Be happy. Fortunately, I don't need pills for that.