Posted by Stacie Savage, Inkjet Systems Communications

The week before Halloween has been a very scary one in Southern California. I’m writing this from home because the HP San Diego Site has been closed all week. The site is located in a neighborhood called Rancho Bernardo, and if you were following the news, you’ll know that President Bush visited there yesterday because it was one of the areas hardest hit by the San Diego wild fires. Many HP employees live near the site, and we know of several who have lost their homes.

I was very fortunate in that the fires didn’t get very close to my neighborhood. The 2003 fires came within a mile of my house, and to this day, I still smile whenever I see a firefighter. This year, my home became an impromptu evacuation center for a large extended family from four separate households in San Diego County. If you’ve ever experienced anything like this – waiting to see if you have to evacuate your home or not, and wondering if your friends’ homes will be there when they go back -- you know the feeling that is a mixture of anxiety, boredom and helplessness.

Everything reminds you of the potential danger. The local TV channels are suddenly 24-hour news channels that cover every aspect of the fire, from road closures, to the direction of the wind, to which evacuation center had to be shut down because the fire was heading toward it. Even if you dare to take a break and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO, the emergency broadcast system interrupts it to tell you which neighborhoods are now evacuating. And you’re hoping with all your heart that you don’t know anyone who lives there because that makes it even more painful.

After two days of waiting, some neighborhoods got the all clear nod. When my friends went home, all to discover that their houses, though ashy, were all still standing, I had a profound sense of loneliness. Things were slowly getting back to normal, but they weren’t quite there yet. And now, that the fires are mostly contained (some neighborhoods are still threatened), it’s getting more normal, but everything is still a little bit off.

I’m working, but I’m doing spacey things. I sent and recalled the same e-mail three times because there was something glaringly wrong with it every time. I’ve had to proofread documents four or five times and have still found stuff I missed before. I hope you don’t find any typos in this post.

It will be a very long time before things are back to normal. In fact, some folks who lost homes in the fire four years ago haven’t recovered yet. I’ve learned in life that I’m less affected by what happens to me than I am by how I respond to it. I believe doing normal things helps you get back to normal.

And so, finally, I’m going to talk about something normal for me, printing. Halloween is next week, and I’m going to the store later to get some big bags of candy to hide from my husband so that they will still be around for me to hand out next week. I’m also going to buy a big pumpkin. And I’m printing out pumpkin carving stencils. The Snapfish website has some fantastic stencils from the World Wildlife Fund. The tiger stencil is the one I’m going to use for my pumpkin. Also, you can take a picture of your creation and post it on Snapfish, and other users can vote on their favorites. Prizes like HP photo printers and cameras and World Wildlife Fund T-shirts will be awarded to the carvers of the best pumpkins.

If that’s a little too much for you, the HP project site has some really simple projects like a Halloween door bell cover. One is a cute little ghost, and your doorbell can become his mouth. There are lots of other projects as well. They are all quite simple and don’t require lots of supplies – there’s a good chance that you have what you need on hand.

What I’m really trying to say is “Hug your kids and your spouse, call a friend, pet your cat. Do normal things like go trick-or-treating or carve a pumpkin.” It might take a while, but you’ll feel better.

Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of HP and may not have been reviewed in advance by HP.