For anyone who is concerned about our well-being:  First, thank you for your concern.  Our neighborhood, Steiner Ranch, is completely evacuated, and 30 houses has been lost so far to the large fire in the neighborhood.  Latest official information is here: http://www.austinhsem.com

Liana, Gwyneth Rose, Xander, and I were in College Station this weekend for a class reunion and football game.  In the third quarter, we learned that our neighborhood was on fire.  The immediate threat is at the front of the neighborhood, and we are about half-way back.  For now, we think our house is OK, but we can’t go home.

This is a picture of what the neighborhood looks like from RM 620.  It takes up many acres of hills, very country.

We are traveling back to Austin today, but we don’t know where we will be sleeping tonight because Steiner Ranch is still restricted, and all electricity is cut off to the neighborhood to avoid further sparks or explosions.  Since we were on a weekend trip, we do have small suitcases with a few changes of cloths, so we will be looking to get those washed so they can be worn again.

Luckily, we brought the pack-n-play so that Xander (1 yr old) can have a nap somewhere.

If you know any of our friends, you can point them to this post  (we have lots of TXT messages still unanswered).  I’ll also be updating on twitter as anything happens. http://twitter.com/#!/jeffreypalermo

Thanks for your prayers, and yes, if the fire is still going this afternoon, we’ll need a place to stay tonight.

Regards,

Jeffrey Palermo