Fire

California is a very big place.  It's easy for us to look at a map showing a wild fire or earthquake zone and take some comfort in how very far away it seems.

Over the past week we had only this vague notion about the location of the Valley Fire.  The human toll was all too real.  The speed and ferocity of this fire, the people of the region who escaped with only what they could carry or pack into their cars. The lives disrupted.

The place names weren't particularly familiar to us, though.

Until this morning.

The report of damage to the geothermal generating facilities at The Geysers caught our attention. Apparently the fire is heading toward Geyserville where we're going for the annual BORP Revolution ride in 10 days. 

For us, this puts a face to the tragedy at last.  We know these people, that landscape, the vineyards and the towns. In some places we know every inch of the road.  It all suddenly seems so fragile now.

We'll be keeping a close watch on the situation.