Here Today, GoneTomorrow

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, or should I say, Here This Morning, Gone This Afternoon.

Saturday morning around 8 am California time, we were talking to John's dad on the phone about so many things: the cute bears that are stealing apples from their apple trees, the 30 elderberry bushes they are carefully tending, the new book they are reading (Cesar's Way), talking about nutritional supplements, etc. We laughed a lot. John held the cellphone, and I put my ear next to it to hear. All is well, all is well.

In the afternoon, about 4:20pm, I answer the phone. John is out mowing the lawn.
"We had a fire," said John's dad. " We lost everything. Call everybody. Tell them to pray for us."
Patty and John are OK. Their 2 dogs are OK. What he thinks happened is that an arsonist pulled up to the mill and did something to cause an explosion and huge fire. We find out later that the little cabin is not burned, but in danger of having the big boulders above it on the mountainside come loose and come crashing into it. Which did happen.
They lost all those things they stored in the mill, they lost everything in the trailer. Photos, family history, business accounts, books, etc.
Everyone is in shock. It is the end of an era. Gold Hill Mines..a piece of history that will never be the same. I cannot imagine the clean-up processes needed.