There were fires all over Raleigh yesterday. People who were there, fighting it or helping people get out, said that they hadn’t ever seen anything like it here before - it was more like something you’d expect to see in southern California. The weather conditions were perfect for it - hot (well, over 70°), very windy, and bone dry. There was a townhouse complex not to far from where I work that lost 30 units, though luckily everyone there got out alive. There was another fire that killed an entire family and ruined a few other apartments in the complex (they suspect arson in that case), and a few other fires in other towns around here. The pictures they showed on the news were horrific, and the soundclips from people who lost their homes and all their belongings were heartbreaking.

It got me thinking. I mean, what would I lose if my apartment burnt to the ground? I’m a pack-rat, and I’ve managed to stow away a whole lot of crap in my place. Most of it I wouldn’t miss. I mean, hell… I don’t even remember that I have a lot of it. (Packing and moving is always a time of rediscovery, because I’m like, “whoah! I remember that!” every time I start digging through drawers and loading up boxes.) But there are a couple of things that I would really, really miss if I lost it all.

• My cats. Pets don’t often make it out of fires. But they’re the only family I have here. They curl up with me at night, fighting for my attention before we all go to sleep. They keep me company, they keep my feet warm when I’m sitting on the couch knitting, and they love me. And I love them. I would be devestated if I lost them.
• My stash. What is a knitter without her stash? I don’t have a lot when you compare it to knitters like The Yarn Harlot or my mother, but… what I have is special to me. I’ve selected each piece because it said something to me, and I only bought those that were really special. Losing it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it sure would hurt.
• My computers. In eons or even decades past, losing an electronic device wouldn’t be that big a deal, cost aside. But today, most people’s entire lives are on their computers. Mine contain photos, emails, music, work files, personal documents… there’s so much that’s on my computers that I don’t really have backed up elsewhere. Losing them would mean losing a lot of valuable information - financial and other important documents as well as memories.
• My photo albums. Most of the stuff from the last couple of years is all digital. But before I had a digital camera, everything was print. I’ve got photo albums going back years. Stuff from high school, from college, from when I studied abroad in Japan.
• My Grandma collection. I don’t know what to call it, but the things I have of my grandmother’s. Her bedroom set - my bed, my two dressers, and my bedside table. They were hers, and now they’re mine. There’s a drawer in one of the dressers that had a bunch of her handkerchiefs and scarves when I got it. I haven’t touched it - all the other drawers have been filled, but that one remains as it was when I got it. Sometimes when I want to remember her, I open up the drawer, pull out one of the scarves, and just hold it to my face. Even today, years after she’s died, it still smells like her, and it takes me back to my childhood. I also have her high school senior picture sitting on my mantel. She was a wonderful woman, and I loved her dearly. I know losing these material things in a fire wouldn’t mean I’d forget her or that her memory would be any less, but these things are important to me, and help me keep her alive in my mind and in my heart.

Reflecting on this makes me realize how fortunate I really am. I may have lost my job, but that’s not the end of the world. I still have my friends, my family, and my stuff. I watched the Oprah Oscar interview special last night after Grey’s Anatomy, and the interview with Sidney Poitier really touched me. Something he said hit especially close to home: The true measure of a man is how well he provides for his children. Today is my daddy’s 60th birthday, and he is, above all things, a man who truly measures up in the eyes of his daughter. He, along with my mother, taught me about the things that really matter in life and raised me to be a strong, independent person. Because of them, I know that I can get through this rough patch, and I know that even if my apartment were to catch on fire and I did lose all those things I just listed, I would still be okay. Because I have them, and more importantly, I have the strength and the wisdom and the life that they gave me. Happy Birthday, Daddy.

On a lighter and more fiber-oriented note, I finished yet another pair of socks. I just love love love how this stuff knitted up, and I love the pattern. I wore them today, and they feel great. But now I’m basically out of hand-dyed yarn! Guess that means it’s time to get dyeing again. :)

Mom also sent me a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift - a new sock book and sets of the new Lantern Moon Sox Stix in ebony, sizes 0, 1, and 2! That, along with some wonderful chocolate from the little chocolate shop near her store made for a very lovely Valentine’s surprise. :)