We were just driving off to Rustington about 10 on Thursday morning (to do our fruit and veg shop) when I happened to look back. "That's a strange looking cloud", I said to Col, who at the time wasn't interested. I never connected it with the two emergency vehicles I had heard screaming along earlier. But on the way back we saw a great plume of smoke rising up alarmingly close to home. I had seen the first plume like an odd grey storm cloud in an otherwise clear sky, then driving back we saw what it was! Something was on fire - something big.
For a moment (spoiler alert) I felt a bit like the nameless wife in Rebecca, during the early morning drive back to Manderley that ends the book - the one where they see the red glow on the horizon, although it is not quite time for sunrise.
That is one of the great fiction moments.
It was not our flats. The massive Harvester pub was on fire - ablaze in fact. Nobody, thank God, was hurt. We were told to keep our windows shut, but the smoke was not blowing our way, so I was able to sit out on the balcony with my studying.
The Maui wildfires in Hawaii were raging at the same time - devastating the city and killing at least 67, but that total will almost certainly rise. How do you deal with fire on that scale? We - the damaged children of disobedient Adam - are living in such a tragedy. We need the King, the ruler, who can control the natural elements, who can prevent all these tragedies. We need him urgently. Which is why we pray for God's Kingdom to come and for God's will to be done here on the earth.
The photo is of an appropriately fiery sunrise.
I have been talking to Linda, via email, and she says she may be able to pop over and see us when she has a day off. It would be great to catch up. We go back a long way and have not seen each other for ages. We were together on Planet Expat many years ago.
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