Northern California's wind-whipped Kincade Fire has burned 77,758 acres and is now 100 percent contained. 60 structures damaged, 374 structures have been destroyed, and there have been four injuries. Residents in Northern California are now able to return to their communities; everyone has been wanting to get home. Evacuation warnings and mandatory evacuations for 180,000 people in several regional zones; law enforcement gave people a six hour window to pack and evacuate. Pacific Gas & Electric shut off power to 2.3 million people in 38 counties. Two Sonoma County towns (Healdsburg and Windsor) were completely evacuated and kids wanted to get home for Halloween.
Last week, a friend's son wrote about evacuating from Healdsburg in "What I Grabbed When The Fire Was Coming For My Home". A girlfriend evacuated with her young grandsons, first from Healdsburg to Santa Rosa then to a hotel far from the evacuation zone on the Highway 80 corridor. There, she held multiple rooms for additional family members who were next in line to be evacuated. The Kincaid fire was relentless. Her grandsons were restless, coping, over-agitated and stressed. Two days later, thinking they could return home, the Nixle notice read "Mandatory evacuation order still in place. City remains closed. Do not attempt to come back to your home."
Another girlfriend evacuated 90 miles south of Santa Rosa to "the only place at the time that would take small animals." She reminisced about the 2017 Tubbs fire then commented "It's kind of funny how PTSD works, you don't think you have it from the last fires, till you smell smoke, or it gets really windy..."
Two years ago, I had time to pack up belongings before a mandatory evacuation, a result of the Atlas fire. I pulled quilts from beds and off the shelf and began wrapping them around belongings; framed photos, dishes, travel souvenirs, hand-made Christmas ornaments, etc.. I remained hopeful that if we returned to find our home burned to the ground, we would re-build with a collection of colorful quilts protecting the specially packed treasures for a new home. Our house remained intact with the flame zone 1/4 mile away. We've been evacuated 3 times, since that fire, and have packed and loaded vehicles nearly a dozen times.
In Dorothy Gale's adventure, in The Wizard of Oz, she is accompanied by her new-found friends (Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion) who help her return to Kansas. "There's No Place Like Home" is one of the final scenes in the 1939 film American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Home Alone's, Kevin McAllister is accidentally left at home when his family flies to Paris for Christmas vacation. The 1990 American comedy film was so successful that there were four sequels (two theatrical, two made-for-television) produced.
We are obsessed with home tips, makeovers and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ideas. A full network, Home & Garden Television (HGTV) primarily focuses on home improvement programming. According to the most recent Nielsen ratings (2018), HGTV is the fourth-most-watched cable network in the United States, averaging more than 1.6 million viewers overall.
Everyone recognizes home improvement retailer Home Depot. CFO Carol Tome says, "We have invested in our online experience to shorten checkout times. In fact, we have dropped the time to check out by 19%. We improved the overall look and feel of the website."
In director Steven Spielberg's most beloved film of 1982, E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott and his siblings help E.T return to his home planet.
We can live in a Smart Home, search the internet for a company, business or individual's Home Page, and cheer our favorite baseball player running the bases to touch Home Plate and score!
Lyrics by John Howard Payne
Melody composed by Sir Henry Bishop
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home There's no place like home!
An exile from home splendor dazzles in vain Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again The birds singing gaily that came at my call And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all Home, home, sweet, sweet home There's no place like home, there's no place like home!
"Home is where the heart is."
~Pliny the Elder. Formerly Gaius Plinius Secundus, (23 AD – 79 AD)
This post is dedicated to those:
Without a home, returning home, sharing a home -
Or, looking for a place to call home.
To the many far from home, on the road home -
And our dear ones having been called home.