Napa Valley Fires

Napa Valley has had record breaking fires since the weekend. It's been horrible and depressing and worrisome, to follow on the news. Thankfully, we are safe.

But, the air quality here has been terrible! We have been smelling smoke all week long - it's very hazy/smoggy looking outside, people have started wearing masks while out in public, all outdoor activities during school have been canceled and kids are being kept inside, and at times I've even seen ash floating in the air! All of this is so crazy, given we are ~90 miles from the fires!! (And also really elevated the worry for everyone up north - if it's this bad for us, I can't even imagine what they are going through!!) 😩

Even though I've tried to limit our time outside, I've been feeling the effects myself - a pretty bad/constant headache, tightness in the chest when breathing deeply, a slight burn of the eyes, stuff like that. When we headed out for the bus this morning, Logan and I both were hit with a pretty strong smokey smell in the air - which really bothered him. He asked me if he could wear a mask to school - of course! I said, and went back inside to grab him one. Who knew that the masks I hung onto from Callum's treatment would come in handy again!!

The fires have upset both boys a fair amount, but primarily Logan. Not just from the physical aspect of having trouble breathing - but the first day really heightened his anxiety, since he thought it meant something was burning near us. And, as each day drags on, I think they're both realizing how awful the fires have been, and continue to be. Each night they've both commented that they hope the fires are put out by the next day.

The fires HAVE given us an opportunity to talk about gathering up some toys or clothes that we don't want or need anymore, and which we could give to the families who've lost their homes. We've ALSO talked about how it's important to keep an emergency pack available for these sorts of events - I've been wanting to update our earthquake pack for awhile, so I've now solicited Logan to help me put a much more robust bag together for our family. :)