Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Volleyball Season is Over, Santiago Fire revisited
Volleyball season ended last Saturday. The team played 2 games and won both. While there are no official tallies in this league, we know that we ended the season with 9 wins and 5 losses. Not a bad season!
We prepared and handed out a team photo collage page for each girl and a photo CD for the season. Hopefully that will give the girls some good memories.
One of the girls volunteered to hold a pool party after the last games. We went over there and they have an awesome yard for entertaining! The parents got to sit in the shade under an outdoor ceiling fan while the girls played basketball and volleyball (guess they didn't get enough) in the pool.
As it turns out, this home was literally on the edge of the Santiago Fire that I wrote about last August. We got a whole new perspective about the fire from them. The most interesting point was that the Sheriff Department came by and told them to evacuate. Then the Fire Department came by and said that they were short of people so they should stay. They did stay and put out a number of spot fires that started in their yard and neighboring yards due to flying debris. The firefighters made a stand in a gully behind their backyard when the main flame came by, so they felt safe.
They said that the fire smoldered back there for several days after the flames went by. They had to watch for new embers flying into the yards and watered a lot as a preventative measure.
If you look at the fire map in the link above, you will see a sort of upside down W in the lower right corner of the fire area. There is a push pin on the edge of that. That is almost exactly where their home is.
There were definitely signs that a fire came through when we looked at the hills behind their house. However, it is not the scorched earth that we saw right after the fires. The grasses have grown back and some other small vegetation is growing. However, there are a number of blackened trees dotting the landscape that stand as a reminder of the fire.
We prepared and handed out a team photo collage page for each girl and a photo CD for the season. Hopefully that will give the girls some good memories.
One of the girls volunteered to hold a pool party after the last games. We went over there and they have an awesome yard for entertaining! The parents got to sit in the shade under an outdoor ceiling fan while the girls played basketball and volleyball (guess they didn't get enough) in the pool.
As it turns out, this home was literally on the edge of the Santiago Fire that I wrote about last August. We got a whole new perspective about the fire from them. The most interesting point was that the Sheriff Department came by and told them to evacuate. Then the Fire Department came by and said that they were short of people so they should stay. They did stay and put out a number of spot fires that started in their yard and neighboring yards due to flying debris. The firefighters made a stand in a gully behind their backyard when the main flame came by, so they felt safe.
They said that the fire smoldered back there for several days after the flames went by. They had to watch for new embers flying into the yards and watered a lot as a preventative measure.
If you look at the fire map in the link above, you will see a sort of upside down W in the lower right corner of the fire area. There is a push pin on the edge of that. That is almost exactly where their home is.
There were definitely signs that a fire came through when we looked at the hills behind their house. However, it is not the scorched earth that we saw right after the fires. The grasses have grown back and some other small vegetation is growing. However, there are a number of blackened trees dotting the landscape that stand as a reminder of the fire.
Labels: Bethany, Family, Hayley, Volleyball
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Volleyball Season
I have been falling behind on my updates. I just noticed that I have not posted a single entry about the current Volleyball season. The girls both play in the US Youth Volleyball League which has 2 sessions per year: Fall and Spring. Each session lasts around 8 weeks, so it goes by pretty quickly. We have practice on Tuesday nights and then games on Saturday.
This season, the girls are at the same level for the first time. They are both on the team that I am coaching. It is a co-ed league for kids from 9 to 15. This is the 4th season for Hayley and the 3rd season for Bethany. We ended up with an all-girl team this time around. Our team name is the Purple Pandas of Pandemonium (or Panda-monium).
Anyway, we are coming up to our last game on Saturday. For the first time, we have a team party planned. One of the families offered up their pool for the party right after the game. We have had a winning season, but not a dominating season. However, the important thing is that it still remains fun. There are no playoffs with this league, so we will be done after Saturday until the Fall.
This season, the girls are at the same level for the first time. They are both on the team that I am coaching. It is a co-ed league for kids from 9 to 15. This is the 4th season for Hayley and the 3rd season for Bethany. We ended up with an all-girl team this time around. Our team name is the Purple Pandas of Pandemonium (or Panda-monium).
Anyway, we are coming up to our last game on Saturday. For the first time, we have a team party planned. One of the families offered up their pool for the party right after the game. We have had a winning season, but not a dominating season. However, the important thing is that it still remains fun. There are no playoffs with this league, so we will be done after Saturday until the Fall.
Labels: Bethany, Family, Hayley, Volleyball
