Seeking Normal

The school doors opened again this past Monday.  The children came and we managed to keep things as Normal as possible.  There were plenty of tears as the fire took so much from so many.  When 1500 homes are gone, it affects a large population of this small town.  So many are displaced, not able to go home either because their home is now gone or its simply not safe to return to the areas where homes remain intact.

The fire was the topic on everyone's mind Monday and Tuesday.  Today, Wednesday, it was less and less.

People really are trying to get back to the Normal, whatever that is now.  There are plenty of needs and they are a constant.  From shelter, to clothing to food to health care, there is a large population of people that are having to find their way back to Normal.

Its impossible to be Normal right now.  The fires changed too much for that to be the case but we are trying.

People here are having a hard time sleeping and our dreams are filled with smoke and fear and sirens. People are finding it difficult to concentrate and focus on things that need to be done.  Details elude them.  Time will need to heal the wounds, however, it will take rains to put out the fears completely.

Rain seems to be the elusive fix for us.  It remains absent from our skies and the forecast is only the most slim of chances.  How long will this go on?  I see brown dead lawns, dying trees and a landscape that is primed for another fire.  Until the rains return, the threat will be constant and real.  Constant and real just like the need left in the wake of the fire. 

Just so you know how things are going here in My Town, it seems to be a guarded OK.  We still wince when we hear a siren, we still look to the sky for signs of smoke and clouds must be verified.  Meanwhile we are working and going to school and grocery shopping and going ahead with our lives.  And that's just the ones that were unaffected.  Those that lost everything are in a daily battle to rebuild and to find something Normal in every day.  Temporary shelter, temporary lives waiting for a semblance of routine.

Maybe, with some luck and no more fires, next week will seem a little better.  That is my sincerest wish.