An unusual week ends

Santa Anas began gusting early Sunday, if I remember correctly. Not the soft, jacuzzi-warm Santa Anas we've been having. These were lip-cracking sandblasters. Gusts over 100mph recorded on some lonely Wile E. Coyote peak. Not hot. But not cold either. Warm, but with the wind chill factor factored in, strangely temperate. By Sunday night, the fires had been lit.

I noticed what has come to be known as the Santiago fire Sunday evening as I was headed home driving east. It was attributed to an arsonist. Fox News couldn't resist raising the specter of an Al-Quaeda connection. Smoke in the office all week had me craving barbecue potato chips.

The winds had calmed by Wednesday, died by Friday. Half of San Diego burned. They even evacuated Del Mar! On my way to work early Wednesday, I looked to the east. Right around sunrise, foothills silhouetted against a brilliant orange sky. Two thin lines of smoke trailing up like the residue of primordial campfires. Ok, the metaphor is a bit overwrought. But there was something Land of the Lostish about it. Full red moon last night in the eastern sky. Full red moon this morning in the western sky.