Totem*

We are all waiting. We are waiting to go home, although with some trepidation as to whether we will be able to live there. We have scheduled an industrial cleaning service, and our gardener is waiting to bring in a crew to clear all the burned plants and haul them away. The well pump guy has already been postponed once, and will probably have to reschedule again if we still can't get in tomorrow. 

I'm sure Dana and Jim are waiting for us to vacate their living room. which we will do as soon as we know it is safe to live in our house. There are a lot of moving parts to this and it all depends on getting the evacuation order lifted. Nobody does well with waiting indefinitely

John went up to the police barricade at the head of our street to talk to the two young policemen from San Francisco who are stationed there to see if they would let in  Serv-Pro, the industrial cleaning company. They said no, but admitted that they were as frustrated as we are that they don't get any information about when our area will reopen. They are, they said, at the mercy of CalFire, who are still mopping up, and PG&E who are replacing poles and restringing line. 

I'm sure these guys would rather be chasing Dirty Harry through the streets of San Francisco than dealing with a bunch of frustrated people. John saw a car roar through the roadblock without stopping, even when the cops pounded on the back of the car. Cindy was there to meet the Serv-Pro guy when an unpleasant neighbor was swearing at them and threatening to call the sheriff! Cindy, ever the diplomat (and the den mother for the whole block, or what's left of it), had to apologise  to the cops, and explain to them that the neighbor is always like that. 

We have rescheduled Serv-Pro for Thursday and will probably have to reschedule the well pump guy who is supposed to come tomorrow. Nobody can do anything until they restore the power and let us back in. We don't know when we will be able to give Dana and Jim back their living room. 

*I love this totem pole made with found household objects by Peter's sixth grade class. Dana bid for it when it was auctioned at a school fund raiser and it has lived in her beautiful garden ever since. I like to think it has protective powers.