Jesusita Fire: update Monday noon

In any other circumstances we'd probably be griping that it's cloudy, chill and damp in the middle of May. But today, after the events of the last week, we are delighted and grateful.

The stations that carry local news are back to their regular schedules. Almost all evacuees are back in their homes.

Most fire crews from other cities have been released. Those remaining, along with our own city and county guys, are up in the hills, putting out the last hot spots. They expect to complete the mopping up on Wednesday.

What a stupendous job all our public services did. They are owed our highest regard and our deepest thanks.

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In my Internet wanderings, I came across this detailed picture tour of our beautiful town. (The text is somewhat wanting -- for example, it's the Moroton Bay Fig tree, not Morton. And frankly, the photos don't do full justice to the full visual loveliness. Nothing can, probably, except being here.)

The site includes pictures of the disastrous Painted Cave Fire, which happened in 1990, a year before I moved here. The fire was finally stopped at the gates of Hope Ranch, and we live in what's known as the Hope Ranch annex. As I said in an earlier post, we were much comforted by our neighbors, who had experienced the earlier event and assured us that we were going to be OK.