Because so many sweet souls have reached out to us to check on how we are, if we’re located in the areas being talked about in the news, how they can help us and the situation at large, and whether we’re safe, I felt guided to post a share of our story to update all of our friends and family here about our status amidst the Caldor Fire that is just over 200 thousand acres and with 20% containment. I also want to share how we’ve been navigating things and how I’ve been focusing my energy. And I wanted to extend hugest heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has so sweetly touched in, sent love and protective prayers, and offered your homes to us even from afar. I can’t express how much it’s all meant to us. So THANK YOU dearly and deeply. Know that you all mean so much to us.

I was happy that the last post I left off with was about how Wonderland always resides in our hearts, as this is what carries me through times like these.

To rewind slightly, we were away for two weeks taking a break from the smoke from two other large fires that had been burning since mid July – the Dixie and Tamarack Fires – on the Northern California to Oregon Coast just recently. That trip provided the anchoring in of peaceful energies and clear minds needed for what we were to return home to. The trip also gave us confirmation of life path decisions in a big way. Near the end of our trip, the Caldor Fire ignited on August 14th. We returned home on the 20th and the worst hazardous air began, keeping us inside with air filters running, house sealed up, and Dave managing a daily system of creating fresh oxygen in the house when CO2 levels would rise from being closed in. I would still get out to my garden when I could, sometimes with mask and other times not, if I got out early when the air was still moderate. It was a way to stay connected to the land here, provide solace, and nurture all my plant and animal friends.

For years we’ve only had one car, but months ago Dave had ordered a new one for us for the first time and it arrived to our house in the midst of the smoke filled evening of last Tuesday – one day earlier than they said. Little did we know how its timing would prove perfect and how once again divine alignment was at work. Before any of the rest of this had unfolded, we decided we would keep two cars in case of emergencies and for times when one or the other is away. The hybrid car we wanted (half electric/half gas) only came in the color red – another first for us both, as we’d never had a red car. I remarked on the interesting symbolism of the red color arriving on an eerie smoke filled night with a fire burning in the background. I also personally noted the red symbolism reflecting my working with reclaiming my own fire element parts, to assist with the raging fires in the external world.

We kept our peaceful center as the days went on, while also remaining aware of how things were progressing with the fire without feeding it with fear. Although at the time it seemed unlikely it would reach us, I would say when asked, “…but I’m not Nature” – indicating only she and the Universe knew what plan was in store. The best we could do was to be prepared, but to hold peace in our hearts and send supportive energy.

And the winds did change providing a give and take – some days blowing with gusto and other days giving the firefighters a break to anchor in more containment lines.

We, unfortunately, had to leave on Saturday for a funeral service that Dave was giving the eulogy for. That was tough in the midst of so much shifting with the fires, but our trusted and ever-giving angel pet sitter and her husband both came to stay with the animals overnight in case of mandatory evacuations, so that we could get to the service that was a four hour drive away. I prayed all would be well until we returned and was grateful that things held.

But Dave and I sensed that we would need to leave and my pendulum confirmed it. Having fur babies that get highly stressed helped us to make that decision, as we didn’t want them to have to be under pressure at the last minute. So we switched our two night service trip to one night, did some air quality research, and managed to lock in a hotel for all of us on the coast, right before the weekend began. Not an easy task with three animals that are not dogs, as most “pet friendly” places in fact mean “dog friendly” and don’t extend to all animals. But the Universe guided us divinely, as we kept the faith. We then drove home Sunday, packed up everything and left Monday ahead of the traffic jams.

At that point we had not received any warning or order, but outlying areas of warnings and orders were coming in and closing in fast.

We loaded both cars with everything, including some things I would drop at my parent’s house on the way out, and Astrid came with me while the cats, Boojum and Sweet Pea, went with dad. Again, the two cars became a blessing we had not planned.

I left first, since I would go a different route to my parent’s house, and Dave waited about 45 minutes to follow. He stopped along the way at a friend’s house to drop them our air filters because they were staying a bit longer and then planned to go down in the valley where the air quality was still not healthy. We planned to meet in the Sacramento area for lunch.

I noted that after I pulled onto the driveway from the garage to put in navigation to the restaurant we would meet at, that the clock said 11:11 am – no joke! And I was off.

I didn’t hit any evacuation traffic, but did note the police guiding the first wave of people at the bottom of the highway from our home, and noted short waves of cars packed and leaving, and people stopped on the side of the road talking together with their loaded cars.

Dave went a different way, as mentioned, but also was ahead of the curve. He only hit a 20 minute stop at the north end of the lake, but it was because of road work and the first wave of evacuees getting through that.

We later saw and heard that the roads were jammed, as evacuation orders continued. We were grateful we had trusted our instincts to leave when we did since it was already stressful enough to travel with animals the distance we were going. We also saw, later that day, that our area received an evacuation warning, which means you should prepare and be ready for the next phase – the actual order, which is then mandatory for immediate evacuation.

I have to share about my travels with Astrid, to put into context the rest. When ever I have to take her to the vet an hour away, I sing to her the entire trip from start to finish. There is no music on, other than my voice. I create songs about her, us, and anything important at the time. It just flows and it also rhymes at times, creating it’s own melody or rhythm.

Well, this trip was no different, but actually even more potent.

As mentioned, the journey began at 11:11 am and went until 9 pm. I’ll share more on why the length was more than expected, but for that entire time – minus the stops at my parent’s house, gas station, for lunch, and an emergency – I sang, chanted, wove magickal incantations – basically singing prayers nonstop for a good 8 hours of that.

At first I was singing to and with Astrid only (later to and with Boojum and Sweet Pea as well), but the prayer songs were not just for her, but for all of the challenges across the globe, our communities affected by the fires, and the collective at large, which we beamed out as a team together to assist with. I can’t believe how fluid it all was. It just came out and is what I know kept us safe, me and Dave fully conscious and strong, our fur babies healthy, and helped create a bridge with everyone praying.

Although our animals are used to traveling, it’s not that they love it. However, they were all incredible on this trip. Not a peep from the cats and in fact they were still and rested nearly the whole way. Of course with rabbits, travel is extra sensitive and this is why we had chosen an area not further than about 5 hours away – the length I knew she was capable of from our past journey. We did get a few breaks with stops that gave her some down time to regroup and she was able to nibble on some hay throughout, as well as have a little water.

Yet, as a rabbit parent, those of you who are know what I’m sharing, you are always on high alert because of their needs to eat, drink, and move their system constantly and their extra sensitive dispositions, nervous and digestive systems.

I was grateful for my prayer songs, as they kept me focused and not dwelling in worry that would not be supportive for her. These incantations affirmed and reframed everything positive and in the now, as whole and complete, and embodied. I know they worked because my energy was so through the roof, I later was unable to sleep when we actually placed our heads finally on a pillow and because the animals all were calm, meditative, and remained healthy.

But we did have an incident along the way. Luckily it took place when Dave and I were back together again on the road, after our stop for lunch. Not long after we were journeying on the last half leg of the drive, my car – the new one that I was driving – gave me a tire warning message. Dave had an app set up on his phone to monitor the car’s system and saw that my back left tire was losing air fast. We happened to only be two exits from a gas station and got off in just a few minutes from onset of me messaging him about it.

The back tire was in fact a flat and the culprit was a large piece of metal that had wedged itself into the tire. It was losing air that you could hear hiss on its way out.

I couldn’t help but flash to the vision of my head gash I got just a while back, that you may recall was a way to let out pressure and steam and create an opening for relief from all the collective things unfolding. Had the car, which mirrors our vehicle in life we journey in, now also done the same and avoided something worse by safely recalibrating itself and perhaps recalibrating our timeline to avoid something ahead on the road/road of life as well? I did see a motorcycle on the curvy road later marked off with flares that had been there a bit and caused a back up for a few minutes. But who knows what else and of course with all the energetic work I’d been doing, it may have been a collective release as well like my head was.

Dave changed out the tire to our spare while I called around to tire places. It was 5pm at this point and some closed already and others open until 6 pm. Some I called were full and said no, they couldn’t help. Finally I called one where the guy was very understanding and said they’d look out for me. However, by the time the tire was on it was now close to 5:30 and we still had about a half hour drive to get there, which I could only do at 50 miles an hour tops, since I was driving on a spare.

I called them again while driving to let them know the situation and again he said he understood and they’d look for me. We managed to get there about 5 minutes before 6, but arrived to find they were crazy busy and bustling still. Dave spoke to them and our situation of fleeing from Tahoe and the guy was more than happy to help. They also just happened to have the right size tire we needed. It would take an hour – so they continued to stay open to help us and the other customers that were still there in need of help.

We decided I should continue on with the animals to our hotel destination, as it was too much to have them wait around. So, we transferred some things in the car and I continued on while Dave stayed back to wait for the car to be fixed.

And this is how I came to be with all three fur babies for the remainder of the 2 1/2 hours on. The prayer incantations, affirming songs, and melodies continued to flow and everyone was held in a peaceful, safe bubble the rest of the way. At this point I knew Astrid was going to be traveling the longest she ever had and I made sure to hold the highest vibe possible for her to lean on. In fact, that is what I kept telling all of them, that I had enough reserves of energy for all of them, and to lean on me, take my energy to keep them strong and healthy, systems moving and vitals vibrant, because I had more than enough to go around. I could feel myself as an open channel constantly receiving from Universal consciousness and then outflowing to them and everything all around. My energy reserves were continuously full no matter how much went out. My energy was on high, as darkness enveloped what now was a night’s drive, keeping me on high alert around curving, tight roads, and continually channeling energy like an energizer bunny, myself, that just keeps going.

Boojum was nestled peacefully on my lap, Astrid I could see was in a meditative rest, and Sweet Pea was curled up in a cuddle bed behind me.

We did make it safely to the hotel where I managed to get them in the room and set up and Dave was only about 25 minutes behind me to help with the rest.

My energy was through the roof so much, that even after we were fully unpacked into our room from two loaded cars, set up everyone, showered, checked on status in our area, etc., and laid my head on the pillow at midnight, I still could NOT go to sleep. It wasn’t worry or stress…it was high energy keeping me fully awake and conscious like the energizer bunny even though my legs slightly ached from the long drive. I think I likely got about 3 or so hours of sleep and woke still feeling high vibed and able to tackle the day ahead. We got some things handled we needed to, but most importantly we took in some good nurturing vegan food finds for breakfast and lunch that we found and a 4 + mile walk along the ocean cliffs, which was perfect to anchor in the water energy and extra peace to embody and be able to send to the fire situation and the communities back home. My eye somehow managed to see and find this tiny rock amidst the grass with painted, “Peace” message on it, which felt like a sign.

The lighthouse felt like a beacon of hope and that we each can be the light at the end of the tunnel for others, just as much as light is always present in our hearts within the darkness we journey.

This gave the animals a chance to rest and integrate, too, as they peacefully slumbered in their safe spaces the whole day.

I feel that being here in clear, fresh air, cool temperatures, and flowing ocean vibes is the perfect condition for me to be able to recharge, get nurturing water energy to fuel my Pisces soul, and continue sending out protective and supportive energy to the situations at hand without being bombarded by anything else coming at me.

Let these images wash over you with nurturing, cooling peace, expansive hope, and gentle flow of grace.

I did finally feel exhaustion set in yesterday evening and got a full and deep sleep in, despite troublesome info coming in about the situation the fire fighters were facing with the red flag warnings of crazy wind, inversions, and dry conditions that will last through end of today. Tomorrow is supposed to bring some relief for the fire fighters to be able to hopefully gain some more strong holds, containment, and continue herding the fire away in the direction they want with their plans.

All that to say, we’re safe and continue to hold peace, send energy and protection, strength and awareness to all back home. Our intentions are to support the land, animals, people, homes, and of course the incredible fire fighters who selflessly are working round the clock doing an amazing and dangerous job of protecting everyone. I can’t tell you how much my heart has opened even wider to feel their immense tenderness and care they channel through all that they are doing. Just wow!

Many of our friends have evacuated as well – some of whom have houses where the fire is looming closest and being diverted best they can right now.

We’re all safe, but so many animals, plants, land, and homes aren’t. It’s heart-breaking. Many people are facing some of the darkest hours in their lives and for them, let us hold a space of love and peace to nurture their hearts and help give them the strength to navigate the journey ahead. Time is fleeting on this Earth and to be in these spaces of divine love and unconditionally compassionate and kind spaces are what matters most. Our loved ones in animal and human bodies are most important. They can’t be replaced.

I gave my garden one last nurture before we left and took all the herbs and veggies with us for Astrid and us, since I didn’t know if they’d be there still. I sent protection to all my animal and plant family, the forest, our home, community, town, and Lake Tahoe region and beyond. It was interesting to see all my little bird, lizard, squirrel, and chipmunk friends gather around while I was outside, listening to me and joining in the love prayers.

I pray for the land and all of life to be cradled in loving arms and carried on wings of peace.

Let us each be a heart bridge for the journeys being traveled right now, and remember these challenging times of togetherness even when challenge isn’t present. To bring forth this depth of concern, care, and compassion through every single moment we’re alive on Earth and extend our hearts and hands to one another no matter what the circumstances.

One of my incantations included, “we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.”

You may recall that this is a line sung by the Whos in Whoville from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (one of my fav songs that obviously is one of many things from childhood that has stuck with me)…the line goes, “Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand!”

Know that we’re standing with all of you through every challenge being navigated across the globe…not just these fires, but everything creating division, confusion, or sense of despair and powerlessness.

Heart to heart and hand in hand we are bridges unto each other, standing strong across the land.