5:30 p.m. Sunday: "Geezy Peezy..."

...as Kathy would (and did) say--what a scare that was! NO, ALTHOUGH WE WERE AS CLOSE TO GOING AS WE HAVE EVER BEEN, WE HAVE ELECTED TO STAY HERE AT THE HOUSE AND HOSE THIS YARD DOWN FROM NOW INCOMING EMBERS.

After signing off with you abruptly, in talking with some of our now dear front line firefighters (see what they put on our pie plate in one of the Steph-pics for some comic relief), what happened is that a large portion of Bear Gulch (about a quarter of a mile upstream from us) (finally) went up in a towering blaze, fueled by downstream winds (that made the whole scene holocostic) and kicking up a column almost 1,000 feet high chock full of our newest nemesis Der Embers, as you will be able to see on the pics that Steph has been sent to post with this 5:30 Sunday report (and, foolish me, here I thought we would have an easy day after the last two very uneasy ones).

As quick as things got more than dicey, in between writing to "y'all" (because you deserved to know), setting hoses out to spray the house, getting Sir the dog safely esconced in a car and packing those last minute items that weirdly come to mind, we went up to the field on the street to talk with our buddies only to find out that a good portion of the Bear Gulch portion of the fire has now met up with Rock Creek, that (most likely) one or more "rollers" came charging down the hill, only to put ablaze all of the fuel that they alit along the way.

These are the times that try men's souls, and in all fairness and candor, the Incident Team executive staff warned us that might elect to be left behind of the wild swings that can and will take place in the course of one or more days--as they so well stated, "Staying is not for the weak of heart."

Sorry to send cause for concern for any of you out there, but the purpose of this blog is to give you a true, honest inside look at what is going on here, including the good, the bad, and the ugly (Clint).

More when things, the still billowing fire, and I "set down" a bit!

RCR