What To Take When You're Evacuated From Your Home

I've had this conversation with a lot of people over the last few days. People who, like us, have been evacuated from their home because of the fire on Galiano Island. And I've also heard it from friends who've tracked us down and, once they figure out we're OK, want to know what, of our vast collection of stuff, we deemed worthy to stuff into the Saab.

From this experience I can tell you that, whatever you think is important right this second might be different when faced with the actual fact of maybe never seeing it again. But just about everyone I've spoken to reacted nearly the same way I did and packed a combination of The Right Stuff to Bring to An Evacuation and Really Stoopid Stuff.

So a couple of lists.

The Right Stuff to Bring to An Evacuation:

Your toothbrush
Your dog (pictured above left with her pal, Jules. Sidenote: we brought Jules' mom, Patricia, with us, too.)
Your computer (all my manuscripts -- past and in progress -- live in there!)
Food for your dog (inside her Spongebob Squarepants lunch kit. I'm not making this up. It was a gift.)
Cheese
Your espresso machine
Espresso
Milk (for lattes)
My filofax (For the address book, not the appointments. I needed to be able to call everyone and tell them we were OK. My appointments are currently on hold.)

Stoopid Stuff to Bring to An Evacuation:

The wrong clothes
Make-up (!)
A lemon (!!)

The fact is, when faced with it, we decided there was little we couldn't live without. It's stuff. There's so much that, if asked a week ago, I would have said I needed in order for my life to continue in a meaningful way. One week -- and one nasty fire -- later, I can tell you I was wrong. I have everything I need right here. The rest is window dressing. Some of that is lovely, but it's not even close to necessary.

Scary. These are the sort of thoughts life changes are made on sometimes. I'll have to watch that: I love my life. But maybe I don't need all that stuff.