i also needed to drop off some stuff from my house….at least 10 xerox paper boxes….so much stuff…..i need to get rid of some desks, book shelves, and a dining table as well….probably will post on craiglist for that….
when we drove past the grapevine and magic mountain – we saw a huge cloud of smoke – off to the side…..that was just the simi valley fire getting started….and that was a preview for the blazes to come.
i had no idea that Southern California was on fire last week – now there are 4 fires burning all at the same time…..
i called up my cousin, after reading about the fires in San Diego – yah, she confirmed she’s living in a disaster area – however, she isn’t near any dry bush…..so, she should be ok.
when i use to live at the skating dorms in the San Bernadino Mountains – I attended Rim of the World High School. I found out from my cousin that now this high school is on fire, as well.
“As of 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday some 26,000 plus acres have burned across the mountain. The San Bernardino Mountains portion of ‘The Old Fire’ fire is at 5 percent containment. THE FIRE IS NOW CURRENTLY BEING HELD AT RIM OF THE WORLD HIGH SCHOOL AND AIR TANKER WATER AND RETARDANT DROPS ARE PROGRESSING AT THIS TIME.”
Funny, I wanted to take Mark up to Lake Arrowhead this weekend – to see my old stomping grounds – when we saw the news reports – we decided against that trip.
I wonder about the people I left behind in Lake Arrowhead and at Rim of the World. I spent several summers up there, as part of their skating camp. Then I spent my first semester of freshman year, there. It was difficult to bond with any of the skaters, since my parents forced me to come home every weekend. I heard my old boyfriend got a job as the manager of McDonalds. One of the girls from the skating dorms – went on to become a 2 time Olympic silver medalist. I also heard the girl, who hooked me up with my old boyfriend – ended up getting into an affaired with her married manager, at McDonalds – I guess they had more than one manager over there.
Before highschool – my parents would take a group of girls up to our cabin in Running Springs, for the weekend. We would drive up Saturday – hang out at the cabin. On Sunday – we would head over to Blue Jay for 3 hours of skating. Training in the mountains totally helped with our endurance – running our routines in the thin mountain air made it seem easier, when we were skating down in LA again. In the winter, we’d get to go skiing, after our skating – it was like a reward for us. During the other seasons, we would head over to Lake Arrowhead, after practice. Sometimes we’d get some yummy yummy waffles at the Belgian Waffle House. That was the first place I’ve ever had eggs benedict. Sometimes we would get some biscuits from the McDonalds’ and feed them to the ducks on the lake. For a few July 4ths – we did the picnic thing by the lake and watched the firesworks. We had to stake out our seats, way before sunset.
It’s so odd to read about that entire region burning up. Before highschool – it seemed like this area was part of this idyllic time in my life. Now, I don’t even know if I would recognize it – if I decide to visit, again.