Today is another simple post but it is not a small affair; my gratitude is huge! You may or may not know that this past two weeks the state of California has been battling many different fires. Families have had to evacuate their houses and in some cases have lost their house or property. There have been several fatalities, hundreds of thousands of acres burned, not too mention that the air quality in the entire state is at unhealthy levels.

My property in the Bay Area is in a potential evacuation zone. My family has been informed that they need to prepare the livestock and themselves for evacuation. The good news here is that the CDF has set up a base camp on the back of the property as well as using our neighbors property for launching and staging their helicopters. So I feel a little more comfortable that there will be extra efforts to keep the fire away from the property and the house.

My daughter has told me that when she was talking to some of the firefighters about the possibility of evacuating they replied, “when you see us pack up and leave, then you should pack up and leave.” So today I am grateful that my family is still living in their home and that they are still safe. I am even more grateful for all of the people who are working together throughout the state, battling these fires and housing and helping the people who are not as fortunate as my family currently is. It takes a village and right now we need all of the villagers to put differences aside and help one another.