First off: to all of you in areas that are affected by the Southern Californian wildfires: our hearts go out to you, and we hope that you and those dear to you are safe.
The company I work for has a huge presence in the San Diego area, right in the middle of the worst hit county there. While the company buildings are fine, the site has been closed all week to allow employees to take care of their needs: a large percentage of them have been evacuated, and several have lost their houses.
We were watching the news with the scary flames, and Angel Face was sitting with eyes getting bigger and bigger. When they showed the maps, she asked where that was, and we told her.
Now, back in March I took Nini and Angel Face to Southern California when I had a business trip to San Diego. We left the weekend before, and went to Disneyland (all of our first times), and then at the end of the weekend, they flew back home, and I went down to San Diego for a couple of days of meetings.
I had planned the whole thing as a huge surprise: I only told maa chellelu three days in advance that we are going to California - and then only because she needed to pack for Angel Face and herself. When we got to the airport, Angel Face still thought that she was only there to see me off. Now luckily she doesn't know that only passengers are allowed past security, so she checked happily through security, and they came "with me" to the departure gate. It was only when the flight was called that she realized that they are coming to California with me - she was so excited she almost cried.
I had told neither of them that Disneyland was on the itinerary, so early on Saturday morning I just told them to get ready because we're going to go out and do some fun stuff. They only realized where we were going when they started seeing the flags. And then I couldn't get the little one to stop talking; she kept running through a litany of the things and people she might see and do.
Her day was utterly exhausting; by the time it was time for us to leave, she was limp, and still she wanted to stay - you know what I mean, don't you?
And since then, every writing assignment she has at school she wants to write about Disneyland.
To get back to the original story: when we told her where the fires were, she said "That's where Disneyland is!" We had to explain nicely that it was in that area, but that it was not Disneyland itself that was burning.
Now, every time the fires come on the news, she looks very sad and scared. Last night she was asking "Is it the castle that is burning? All the towers will make a big fire." At least we can tell her that in among the many sad and scary stories, a little bit of magic has stayed intact.
