Fires

I suspect that, by now, everyone knows that we were largely unaffected by the fires here in San Diego. One of the big fires is quite a ways north of us, and the other big one is far to the south. They did evacuate the Scripps Ranch area on Monday, just on the other side of Interstate 15 from where we are located (Mira Mesa), but we didn't need to leave. Those evacuations near us were precautionary at any rate; the fires weren't really an imminent threat to that community. The Scripps Ranch folks were back in their homes later on Tuesday.

The authorities learned a lot since the Cedar fire in 2003. They decided to open a ton of evacuation centers and move as many people out of their homes as was reasonable. By doing so, they avoided what could have been a tremendous number of injuries or deaths and freed up resources to defend properties and structures.

So we're out of danger. Thanks to everyone for your concerns, your thoughts, and your prayers. Out hearts go out to those who have lost their homes and we're truly grateful that we're safe.

The Tasman songbook

Here are some of the songs Tasman likes to sing. She usually doesn't get all the words quite right, but the tune is generally there. Anyone listening would be able to tell what she was trying to sing.

• "ABC song." You can see a video of her singing this here. This is probably her best song.
• "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She likes doing the hand motions, especially when she gets to "wash the spider out."
• "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
• "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." This one's funny because the last line of the song is the first, so she thinks she's starting the song over and she'll just keep singing it over and over again.
  
• "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." We discussed this one here on the blog a while back.
• "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." She's getting better at the accompanying motions.
• "Little Bunny Foo Foo". She sings very little of this, but she gets really enthusiastic when it comes time for "bopping them on the head".
• "Five Little Monkeys." Meme taught her this one. (Meme—pronounced "may-may"—is what she calls Kirsti's mom.)
  

There's a fair number of songs she sings from TV shows.

• "Elmo's World."
  
• "Backyardigans." In addition to the main theme, she can sing just about any of the songs they sing on this show. In particular, she likes "Racing Day", "Treasure", "Secret Agents", "Surf's Up", "Stomp, Stomp, Stomp", "Mysterious, Very Mysterious", and "We're Going to Mars".
• "Blue's Clues." She'll sing along to the two different theme songs the show has had, and all the other songs they sing regularly.
  
• "Franklin."
• "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!"
• "Jack's Big Music Show." She also likes to sing a song from one of the episodes that goes "Hop, hop, hop. Stomp, stomp, stomp. Flap, Flap. Coo coo ca choo."
  

Our favorite is when she makes up songs on request. We'll say, "Tas, can you sing a song about giraffes?" And then she'll launch into an improvised song about giraffes.