And life goes on...

So after the fire we moved back into the house with little or no smoke smell that we could detect.  We were so lucky.  Now all these weeks later the aftermath of the fire can still be seen in the leveled homesites.  Basements are holes in the ground where once stood homes.  The odd swingset without a home, chimney without a house around it.  Its all very surreal.  From our back deck we can't see the personal devastation but we can see the natural aftermath by just looking at the foothills.  Believe it or not there are patches of green up there.  How those areas escaped being burned is quite puzzling.  Who can explain that, no one, I think.

Yesterday I walked out of a cafe from meeting a friend for a coffee and was surprised to look up and see smoke everywhere.  Apparently I've been so shut off from the rest of the world that I didn't realize there were other fires raging around us and the smoke from those has arrived in our area.  There is a haze that is hanging over Pike Peak and the surrounding area.  I hope the fires don't last long. 

School started yesterday for some of the kids.  Today, everyone was back in school.  Do I miss the kids?  Yes, but they definitely needed to return to school if for nothing else to see more of their friends and to expand their little minds a bit more than we could do here at  home.

As you can see, I've been knitting feverishly over the last few weeks and have finished many new projects.  Some of these are items that I'll be passing down to my group in the hopes that they will enjoy them in years to come.  So exactly what am I talking about?  Well I'm making shawls for the all the kids.  Yes, even the boys.  I figure they can give them to their wives some day.  I hope that one day the kids will use these shawls to warm themselves and remember that their mom made each one of them a special shawl with the idea of always being able to get a hug from Mom, even when I'm no longer here.  Now if I can just make shawls that they will like.  In the mean time here are the ones I've completed.

Crown Prince Square Shawl

Heliotaxis Pi Shawl

Orenberg Warm Shawl

Hanami Shawl

Lazy Kate Shawl

Lilac Leaf Shawl