Sometimes passions take a back seat

Sometimes life delivers a dose of humble pie.

My Sunday, as in Oct. 8, went like most, watch Sunday NFL games, relax and enjoy dinner with my wife and three kids. In between, I spent time blogging about two key upcoming high school matchups that involved Vintage at Vacaville and Vanden at American Canyon. My narratives for both games were: a) Can the resurgent and upstart Vintage Crushers take down traditional Monticello Empire League powerhouse Vacaville? b) Could the American Canyon  Wolves deliver an I Owe You to Vanden, which defeated American Canyon 24-21 to knock them off the ranks of the unbeaten? Right now, thinking about those games seems like a lifetime ago.

I was ready to post that blog item before leaving Monday morning for work. Late on Sunday night, however, Mother Nature had other ideas as wildfires began tearing through Northern California including but not limited to Napa and Sonoma Counties. By Monday afternoon, 14 major fires burned throughout the state, according to Cal Fire. As of Wednesday, more than 20 fires are burning in Northern California over 170,000 acres. I’m not going to update anything beyond that information since the unpredictable wind patterns make the situation extremely fluid. Posting the aforementioned blog item became a moot point when Napa Valley Unified School District athletic director Jill Stewart alerted that all school events throughout the week would be cancelled.

As it pertains to my family, fortunately since we live on the valley floor here in Napa, CA, we are safe but breathing in the smoke has been unpleasant to say the least. Five of my immediate and/or extended families with D’Adamo and/or Santi lineage, however, evacuated their homes. As of this writing, they are safe and so too are their homes. I have friends and/or acquaintances, however, that were not so fortunate.

Even those not affected by the fire were forced to make due without electricity, phone service and internet access. As one who grew up without the internet, that was not a big deal but the lack of power and phone service made acquiring information and communicating a slow process. Many people not affected in Napa regained all three elements by Tuesday afternoon, as in Oct. 9. The good news on that front was being able to regain communication. I had people, family and friends, texting and/or instant messaging via social media curious as to our well-being. When I was slow to respond, they naturally became concerned.

I will resume blogging about my passion, sports, before too long but until there is at least reasonable resolution, that passion will remain on the pause button. Stay safe and use good judgment, people.