Dry conditions + exceptionally high winds are creating a nightmare scenario in Los Angeles County today. Pacific Palisades right on Sunset Boulevard – a route we’ve taken for years to go to the ocean – has been burning for hours, and now we’ve learned they are evacuating parts of Santa Monica. On the other side of the city, Altadena has a fire spreading fast and furious. Part of Pasadena is now being evacuated. Our daughter Sarah and her family live in South Pasadena. They have bags by the door, and the whole family is sleeping in the living room in case they need to head further east to Covina to stay at our youngest daughter Rachael’s house.

“Nerve-wracking” is the word Ray just used.

Yes, it is.

Sarah thinks it’s more dangerous to be out on the roads than in their house right now, and she may be right. She and Gregorio know better than we do what is best for them. They will do everything in their power to protect their sweet family.

Nerve-wracking. Yes, that is one way to describe this.

Sad is another word that comes to mind when thinking of the people in Pacific Palisades and Altadena who have fled from homes and businesses that soon burned to the ground.

So far, here in Ojai, we are not getting the winds we were bracing for. We will see.

Meanwhile, a massive swath of the country is experiencing a severe winter storm. Ray read Dallas is expecting five inches of snow on Thursday.

Good friggin’ grief.

Mother Nature is out in full force, and it ain’t pretty.