While in Santa Barbara I had unique exposure to the Tea Fire aftermath. The thing that sticks with me most is the smell of wet ash and charcoal. It reminded me of the Painted Cave Fire. Almost like a monster had been through and at any time he would be back and there was nowhere to hide, exposed and helpless.

Someone once told me that we live by inches and seconds. Most of the fire victims are happy to have escaped with their family safe. There is an image down there of the metal frame of a Harley Davidson, left in the garage to burn while the family escaped. Rusty metal is everywhere. It comes when the intense heat of the fire burns all protective coating off the metal, then the firefighters soak the zone with water to put out the fire. The rust sets in immediately.

One of the lucky neighbors whose house did not burn was driving around giving hugs and pumpkin bread to all of her neighbors who had lost their homes.

My mother-in-law is an excellent interior designer. Everything in her home is so well put together that I feel like I’m lounging around in a catalog shoot. This is standard stuff around here. That’s her decorating the tree.

Imagine a scene where you are called to open a time capsule. Imagine that time capsule as a place to store awards, ribbons, trophies and gear. This is what happened to me when Jim Campbell invited me in to a secret room on the ranch he care-takes.