To Survive Fire

“Leave Now!”

Came the word from fireman announcing throughout our complex,

Ordering mandatory evacuation to me, my wife, and our family of chinchillas

To evacuate within 10 minutes of notice, was a bit terrifying.

To drive an escape route by way of back roads,

Passing through what appeared like an apocalyptic film set,

Was indeed humbling.

To sleep with our chinchilla pets in the parking lot of Walmart the first night,

To view all around the homeless sense of roughing it,

To witness so many less fortunate,

To finally make it to a motel the next night,

To wait out power, internet, and water to become clean from toxins before returning home,

Gave us 8 days to contemplate and reflect on our ability to escape and be thankful.

What else can one say

Other than

Thank you, firefighters,

Thank you, Nature,

Thank you, destiny.