Part Six
Is it just me or have the recent fires made everyone take another look at their lives.
Like many other people, we spent Friday night watching the fire creep closer to our home. The wind was moving the flames at an amazing rate. We thought it best to be prepared and packed the essentials, but what are the essentials?
We each packed enough clothes for three days, packed medication and a first aid kit. But what else is essential? We have pets, so several day’s dog and cat food, cat carrier and litter box were next on the list.
What next? Well the box of important papers is a must take and the lap tops, where so much of our life is stored. However, when you have the real necessities, what else do you need?
We have the usual house full of knick knacks and mementoes, family photos and treasures we have collected over the past 50 years of our life but, when it comes down to it, they are not really necessary. I could have filled a moving truck with things I love but, do I really need them? It turns out, I don’t. My husband and my animals are really all I need, everything else is just icing on the cake. The rest of our family were safe, although one daughter and her family were packing their bags at Apple Beach Resort, on the other side of Tuc-el-Nuit Lake.
Luckily, we have a small RV, so we had our shelter ready to roll down to the Community Centre. In an emergency, it is easier to account for everyone if all evacuees are in one place, so that is why we were going to go there.
When we first came to Canada, we brought four daughters, the eldest was nine, the youngest six. We also brought our two dogs as they were part of the family. Our home was a 14 foot travel trailer and we managed just fine. Forty years later and we could still pack all our necessities in a small RV.
Fortune was with us and turned the wind into another direction, our home was safe and we took a big breath and relaxed.
It is so nice to enjoy our home, it is spacious and surrounds us with memories from all over the world but, when it comes down to it, the things that are really important can be carried in one bag or at the end of a leash.