Elderly couple on verge of losing temporary shelter after displaced by wildfire

LARKSPUR, Calif. - On many days you might find Edward Wood, a classically trained pianist, exercising his talent on a piano that happens to be for sale inside the St. Patrick's Thrift shop in Larkspur.

His biggest fan, his partner Suzanne Selover, was always there with him.

"I've been composing since just past my third birthday. And practicing my piano since I was six," said Wood.

Wood is 79 years old and facing a scary problem.

He and Selover are a few weeks away from possible homelessness.

"We've been in a morass of poverty and immobility and living like hermits," said Selover.

The couple lost the cottage they were renting in a remote part of Siskiyou County in August. That's when the Antelope Fire, ignited by lightning, reduced it to ashes on the way to burning more than 145,000 acres, not to mention Wood's piano keyboard.

"I stepped out the door and the sheriff was there and he said mandatory evacuation. So immediately we had to leave without our rescue dogs," said Wood.

"The fire brought us out into the light. But we don't have a permanent place to live," Selover said.

Since August the pair has been house sitting in Larkspur. But they have to be out a few days after Thanksgiving and have no idea where to go after that.

As if that wasn't enough, Selover is also disabled and has a myriad of health problems.

"Quite stressed. We have only three weeks to get out of this place. We must find a stable place, even if it is temporary," said Wood.

To keep calm in these difficult times...Wood finds comfort sitting at this thrift store piano. It's not Carnegie Hall. His dream of making a living as a concert pianist never came through. Still, he loves playing.

"I'm quite thrilled at times at what I am able to do," Wood said.

Friends have started a GoFundMe page to help get them on their feet.