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We are back home for now. The power was restored late this afternoon, thank God, just as we were considering packing it up and going somewhere else to spend the night. Our house was never in imminent danger, although I live in an area with a large amount of brush and chaparral, so there were fire crews prowling around, looking for flare-ups caused by stray embers, which can happen faster than you could imagine.

I have to say that I have never in my life, someone who has lived here my entire life, seen anything like the inferno that is Southern California right now. So many fires, so many homes lost, so many acres burned black. It makes me ill. And what makes me more ill is that some of these fires were started by sickos who wait for exactly the conditions that we had, high winds and low humidity, to get their jollies by starting a fire.

So much destruction around here, it literally looks like a hurricane came through here, with hundreds of trees down, signs broken and bent, street lights hanging askew. Totally surreal.

And yet, where my parents live, thirty minutes to the north, no wind at all. It is crazy.

There is smoke and ash everywhere, you can't go outside. We are stuck inside, hoping that these infernal winds die down so that the firefighters can try to get a handle on the flames.

My fellow SoCal bloggers Atasha and dgm, I'm thinking of you ladies, and hoping that all is well with you, your friends, and your families.

And can I tell you how hard it is to try and shield an inquisitive five year old from the panic and dismay that you are feeling inside? Dude, it sucks.