My family and I returned back to our community early this afternoon. After unpacking the evacuation luggage, picking up the house cleaning where I so suddenly stopped Sunday, and emptying out the fridge and freezer per CDC and Red Cross recommendations, life quickly re-entered normalcy.

I laid my toddler son down for his regularly scheduled nap in his own bed. My husband worked out, which he desperately needed for stress relief (and I needed for him to have, as well). I checked my work email and corresponded with colleagues about projects and to-do’s. And, I started gathering items for the kids’ school day tomorrow.

Boiling lentil soup

Currently, the smell of an earthy lentil soup – my own “let’s see what I have to put in the pot” recipe – fills my home. When it is finished, I know I will enjoy it at my own table with my family, who mostly requested a different meal, which I don’t mind making tonight. Macaroni and cheese and chocolate milk for my daughter and plain milk with a waffle and five – count them, five – strips of turkey bacon. No, no arguments about dinner tonight. I can use my own shampoo and cucumber soap for a bath this evening. I will watch a bit of television and schedule a blog post for 0745 tomorrow morning while my husband reads and scrolls through his routine “man channels.” We will all fall asleep in our own beds tonight. I know I will have a closet full of clothes to select my attire from in the morning. The same is true for my husband and children. Back to normal. I have missed it for the past two days which have truthfully felt much longer.

As my family and I skip past this inconvenience, some of our neighbors returned to smoldering rubble, ashes and tears. Thankfully our community is absolutely wonderful, and I have no doubt the families affected will have plenty…albeit not their “own.” Still, there are others – friends and colleagues – who have either lost their home or will soon face that realization as the massive Bastrop fire continues with zero percent containment nearly 48 hours after it began. Nearly 600 homes have been destroyed in the rural community.

As my normal returns, I cannot help but think of them as they remain displaced. It is an uncomfortable place, for sure. Thank you to the many, many responders who continue to work nonstop so that others can begin “normal” once again.

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If you would like to help the victims of the Central Texas fires, there are many ways.