Some Updates

Well, I am sad to report, as I'm sure all of you are aware from national news, that the High Park Wildfire right in our own back yard is still burning and even growing.  The fire is now approximately 50,000 acres with over 100 confirmed homes destroyed and one life lost.  I continue to feel confident that we will be safe.  This view is from a block away from our home, taken a few days ago

  The fire is only a couple miles away but there is a large reservoir acting as a barrier.  We do have an evacuation plan and continue to watch closely.  The air traffic is pretty much non-stop above us with the aerial delivery of slurry to fight the fires and the smoke is thick for hundreds of miles.  So lots of sore throats, headaches, and even vomitting amongst the general public right now.

  This has been an incredibly emotional and tragic time for our community as we mourn with our neighbors over the destruction, and wonder both when this fire will finally be contained and fear for what the rest of this dry summer will bring.  As I returned to work on Monday I learned of co-workers waiting in limbo as they had no idea whether or not they still had homes, but thankful that they escaped with their lives and animals.  Some residents were allowed to go back and survey the damage yesterday while still others were evacuated today.

Tragedies like this do indeed bring out the best in the community.  Several fundraising events are already organized for this weekend and food and clothing donations started pouring in the minute evacuations were issued.  The local humane society and CSU vet hospital are tending to hundreds of animals free of charge at a local arena including medical care for fire effects and delivery of baby llamas.  In fact, one of my co-workers said it was such a relief to have these agencies encouraging families to leave their pets and assure them they would be fully taken care of while they attended to other worries.  And, this is Colorado so we are not just talking dogs and cats, there are  horses, goats, pigs, sheep, llamas, alpacas,etc.  Even a wolf sanctuary was able to evacuate many of their resident wolves (the others got to stay in recently constructed fire dens).  I'm feeling pretty blessed to live among such wonderful people.  The kindness of strangers is truly astonishing sometimes.

In other news I have been officially on the day shift for about 2 weeks and am really enjoying it.  I feel like a "normal" person and am far less exhausted all the time.  Plus, this is the first time that I have had a permanent assignment and I really love my busy rehab wing.  I get to build even stronger relationships with my patients which allows me to better advocate and follow-up with issues and collaborate closely with other disciplines such as physical and occupational therapies. My boss even asked me to start leading new hire focused orientation for nursing!  In all other jobs I have held I ended up training so I think it's a niche for me.  I should also start orienting to day shift charge nurse in the next month.  So things continue to progress and I can still say that I really love my job!  

And, just because it was yummy, I made fried chicken last night.  I figured we needed some comfort food

     I have actually never made fried chicken before.  My mom made some when she was here and it was so very yummy.  This was no where near as good as hers but I consider it a success since the chicken was cooked through and juicy and the skin was (mostly) crispy. 

That's all I've got!  Please continue to send prayers for the 1200+ firefighters and displaced residents.  And to our beloved mountains:  I hope you feel better soon.