8 August …
The Carr fire was caused by a flat tire on an RV … rim sparks on pavement near dry grass. Talk about improbability. It is now tracked at 173,522 acres – 47% contained. But, as you probably know, the fire complex in the middle of the state has outgrown the Carr and is at 300,086 acres.
The west is on fire. Wasn’t there something about “the fire next time”?
Relief efforts for the Carr fire are being overseen by the Salvation Army in Redding and our area is doing its part. The following is from a post by daughter Kamille last friday …
“Y’all, people are freaking amazing. St Barnabas Episcopal Church (Mt Shasta) donated funds so we could take cases of water down to #Carrfire#salvationarmy. Weed Grocery Outlet donated five (5) extra cases of water to the 30 we purchased. THEN as we were loading up, a stranger in the parking lot donated cases of Gatorade, and Rodney at Grocery Outlet added to it. [There was also a donation of feminine hygiene products.]
“We are now southern bound in the Hammond Ranch Fire Chief’s truck, donated to help move the water and supplies. ”
(The guy in the picture is Rodney Barr, the manager of the local Grocery Outlet)
This week the need was for pet food. They will make that run this afternoon.
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The fruit trees are a mixed bag this year. A couple of the apple trees are doing well but they are out in the meadow where the deer and squirrels get at them. The Granny Smith in the courtyard will have enough for one pie. But the Satsuma plum has fewer than a dozen plums. It had bloomed nicely and I don’t recall a frost, but there isn’t fruit.
Oh well …
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Weather has been warm and smoky !!! Three days of nearly 100º ahead. We have little muffin fans for the bedrooms and so far we’ve been sleeping okay.
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About 0430 Tuesday morning I was popped out of sleep by an odor I know fairly well. The dog had tangled with a skunk. That is something a dog does only once … unless he is really dumb.
Mark bathed him in a soap something mix and so the smell was reduced, but not gone yet.
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At the close of the last school year, Paul came home with a Summer Bingo card sponsored by the USFS. The free space in the center is Smokey Bear but the rest are all learning projects. Those included gathering acorns, finding a hollow tree, identifying burn marks on a tree or a piece of wood, watching a sunset, starting a stone collection, learning about tree rings, learning about wildflowers, and a slew of other stuff which may or may not be accomplished in the next two weeks.
It has been kind of fun.
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For about a month now I have had a craving for ice cream … most any flavor … just ice cream … almost an obsession. Were it not for the facts that I no longer have a uterus and that I am nearing 90 and that it is for ice cream rather than pickles, I’d wonder if I were pregnant.
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I had thought to spend the night of the 12th out in the meadow watching for the meteors. But now I think that may not happen. Smoke you know.
When it is nearly impossible to see the mountain at the top of the meadow, hoping to see clear sky seems unlikely.
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… and now to end this post …
It’s okay to cry and okay to be sad. It’s okay to miss them and okay to wish you had done something different, but never blame yourself for how things turned out. Never tell yourself you can’t do better and never tell yourself this is the end of the road.
It’s okay to fall but never okay to stay down.
So … ‘til next week …