Fires, Earthquakes and Sniffles

Dave and I were briefly awoken this morning at 4:35 by a loud jolting sound akin to that of the house being hit by a sharp wind, or a large truck booming past on the street. My eyes popped open and I heard dave whisper "Earthquake!" We both lay there quietly for a minute, the only sound was Smashy's obnoxious snoring.
This morning when I turned on the morning news I was immediately bombarded by images of all our 'local' fires still burning bright, at least one with 40% containment.
California: Land of Fire and Earthquakes
Yesterday on our way to Disneyland, we drove right through the Orange County fire off of the 91 fwy. There was a huge cloud of black smoke covering most of the western sky and on either side of the highway we could see charred trees and ground. There were fire helicopters overhead pulling giant water buckets and the smell of smoke and soot was very strong. It was alarming to say the least, since (because we don't watch the news, or much tv at all) we had no idea that this fire was so close to the 91 fwy. Once we were on the 'other side' of the fire things seemed a little less scary and we carried on to Disneyland completely unfettered. Since there were very few cars on the freeway, we got there in just under an hour which is miraculous in itself. The park was practically deserted (I use that word tongue-in-cheek) and as we walked around the shadow of that ominous smoke stilled seemed to fill the sky.

Today we kept Bea home from school since she seems pretty dazed and lethargic with whatever head cold is going around the classroom. Her eyes are glassy and her nose is red and runny. The best thing for her is rest, so even as the phrase "Perfect Attendance" dances in my head, I know the best thing for her is minimal stimulation and lots and lots of rest.