N O W

Television off -

Windows open, welcoming... 

and ‘NOW’ is calm.

Today I have turned off the news, with images of the devastation and firsthand accounts of the horror of the Mudslide in Montecito following The Thomas Fire.  The People do need to tell their story, and with respect I have been listening.  That being said, I am taking a little break from the stories.  Living on the hill – saved from the fire (about a mile away at it’s closest) –so then subsequently saved from mudslides of a magnitude none could have imagined were coming. 

Peace in a moment of NOW.

A deep sadness permeates my home town.

I baked cookies. This morning I will frost them and will take them to my neighbors – a small token of appreciation for their goodness.   

****

In The Twinkling of an Eye

Lives changed forever.

By grace of morning light,

This one does survive.

***

When I gave myself the task of writing a daily Haiku, I could never have imagined what images would come before me seeking words.  Here, a woman who will have her perspective changed forever by the circumstances of one day.  Residents were given well over 24 hour mandatory evacuation orders, but a report in The LA Times says they felt the reports of danger were exaggerated.   Many in Santa Barbara / Montecito changed forever.  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/many-in-montecito-ignored-mudslide-warnings-until-it-was-too-late/ar-BBIbwpC