Monday Meanderings, seriously - 9.12.2011

If you've been here before you know that Mondays are usually devoted to random thoughts and odd happenings. In a sense, today's offering is still a random thought, but a serious one. It has been a serious week in Central Texas.

The week before Labor Day we watched the "101 Ranch" fire, so named by the Texas Forest Service, that was burning in the southeast area of Possum Kingdom Lake. It had the potential to change our holiday plans, or at least the route, so I regularly pulled up Google Earth with the Forest Service overlay and checked that fire's status. No big deal. At the Lake Cabin, hanging out on the Internet is discouraged (easily so - there's almost no access), so we were surprised to see plumes of smoke all around the Central Texas area as we returned to Austin. Then we caught up on the news and were floored at the devastation that surrounded us!

It only got worse as the week went by. The destroyed home count at the weekend is approaching 1,500;  Bastrop - 1,400 homes, still only partially contained; Steiner Ranch - 23 homes; Spicewood - 45 homes; Lake Travis - 11 homes, arson suspected. Two have perished. Everyone knows someone affected. Church email messages have been flying - some news is good. Much is bad.

The newspapers, TV stations and websites are overflowing with news and information. A huge response effort is being mounted with the same types of stories that were so touching and poignant during the PK fires in April; volunteers setting up rest stops, kitchens, aid stations. Officials setting up information networks - where to go, who to see, what to do. Unlike the PK fires, in this metropolitan area information abounds. Ariel photos and maps have provided good and bad news quickly. The only thing they can't tell the displaced is when (and the weekend has provided even that answer for many).

I've posted no pictures. I'm picture weary. You can easily find them if you want.

But all that is table setting. I'm finally down to my random thought, and it is -

What would you take with you?

When they come to your door and tell you that you have 15 minutes to grab your most cherished possessions and go, just what would you reach for?

I know that you can find guides and helpful hints on planning for such an eventuality. The newspaper is full of suggestions and Internet references. Bank safe deposits, off-site storage, fire-resistant lock boxes. All good ideas. A Reading Ally co-worker saw the hand-writing on the wall (or was that smoke on the horizon?) and moved a lot of his more valued possessions to a storage facility in town. Things like paintings, a stamp collection, photos, etc. Unaffected to this point, he says he'll keep them there until it rains.

Some friends of ours who live in vulnerable locations, have mapped out an exit strategy, and packed suitcases that stay by the door or in the trunk of the car. When Roger and Marybeth were in Guatemala during particularly scary guerrilla and insurgent uprisings, they kept their "escape" trunk packed for immediate evacuation (and it almost came to that). Planning ahead is a good thing.

But most of the thousands and thousands of families affected this week had no warning. Most had, literally, 15 minutes. Or less. Many, if not the majority, walked out with the clothes on their backs and a few things in their hands. What were those things? Many pets. Many photo albums (when we thought the Lake Cabin was gone we all rejoiced to learn that Rozanne had taken the Cabin photo albums home). Many walked out with useless, nonsensical things, things that were nearby when they fled: a coffee cup, a library book, a pillow.

What would you take?  Photos? Laptop? Your mother's favorite vase that was bequeathed to you?  The family Bible? The ashes on the mantle? Really? Yes, I know, it's all just things that in the end don't go with you anyway. Walking out the door is the most important accomplishment. But looking around, is there something you would grab that would get you through the hardships of the next few days, weeks, years?

What would you take?