chaos, disaster in SoCal

 The perfect storm of wind and drought. These wildfires are just too horrible. What we do NOT need is tRump making idiotic statements and blaming Newsom and the liberals. Childhood memories of Pasadena and Altadena return as we all try to process this disaster. 

poor, dear Maui

 Such a huge tragedy ~ a beautiful island that we loved. For immediate relief I'm donating to World Central Kitchen. They do an amazing job.

finally ~ fireplace relief

 What a long, cold winter. I can't tell you how much we missed our fake gas fireplace that broke way back when. But now, hooray ~ with a lot of patience and $$$$ the new one was installed yesterday. Then, after the rain and wind, I went walking in the nabe and the air was beyond clean and clear. All in all, an almost perfect Friday. Today? I head downtown for lunch. Life is good, and that is an understatement.

Lake Tahoe and severe fire worries

 We used to go to Lake Tahoe often when we were young and life/traffic/travel was a bit easier. Now they are evacuating the South Lake and 22,000 have been forced to flee. I will quote Dave Pell from his daily newsy email The Next Draft:

SMOKE ON THE WATER

"To put it in perspective, we've been seeing about a half-mile of movement on the fire's perimeter each day for the last couple of weeks, and today, this has already moved at 2.5 miles on us, with no sign that it's starting to slow down." Lake Tahoe threatened by massive fire, more ordered to flee. (California is burning and we're wasting our time with a recall. Our obsession with the trivial will be our undoing.)

our beloved Ashland

Here is a photo of Carpenter Hall ~ usually the box office in Ashland. Of course I will send $$$ to help during these horrendous fires. My theater friend Bob reports that Phoenix and Talent, two nearby towns, have been practically destroyed. So, so scary. 

the fires, the fires

Here is the sky this morning. Orange. Dirty. The wildfires have now spread
to Oregon and Washington. Who can deny Climate Crisis? Scary.

fog and fire

Here is the view this morning. The fire is at Folsom and 13th Street,
according to the wonderful free Citizen phone app. Wow, now I can
even see flames! Scary shit.

and another museum

I'm not a fan of quilting particularly, but my friend Terri is and she had to
go down to San Jose on an errand and she wanted to stop at the SJ Museum
of Quilts and Textiles and I enjoyed the visit a lot. The top two quilts are
about life in West Africa by artist Hollis Chatelain. Gorgeous. In the "tech"
quilt room we found the bottom two. Adam and Eve neglected to click on
the appropriate ACCEPT app box and are lost as a result. Then lunch at
Original Joe's in downtown San Jose, a rather bleak city despite the
growth we keep reading about. A colorful day.

The winds are strong this morning and I am filled with worry for all the
folks fleeing the fires. Terrible time.

one rough week

Coming home to the orange-ness of Fall in our little house helps so much.
We think about the fire damaged wine country and all those brave people
constantly. How about a light rain up there?

October in California

Hot, windy, dangerous. All of our thoughts are with our friends in the North
Bay (Santa Rosa, Napa, Sonoma, Silverado Trail) where there was that
HUGE firestorm (actually 14 fires) and something like 1,500 homes were
destroyed. Awful.

after the fire

It's been more than a year since the big block fire on Mission. We lost so
much including Cole Hardware and so now the long process of rebuilding
begins. Here from our local online blog, Bernalwood Journal:

A local artist came up with the design for The Cole Hardware fence: 2000 plastic pieces make up the lettering that reads from across the street, or passing by on the bus, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE.... You get to fill in the blank. Home? Cole Hardware? Whatever is special to you?

So many merchants and residents lost their businesses and homes. Where did they go? This really changed our community, and we hope they can come back. During the install, everyone who walked by had a story to tell about what they needed from Cole.

my winter essential

A fire on a cold morning is one of life's greatest pleasures. I remember
so many wonderful weekends away in Tahoe cabins, Mendocino rentals,
Sea Ranch homes, cottages in Carmel, hotels in the wine country.
I always checked to make sure there was a fireplace when I reserved.

If a writer wants to muse, she needs the fire. When we were house
hunting back in the days of yore I only wanted two things: a view
and a fireplace. Got 'em. Of course we are stuck with the smallest
bathroom on the West Coast (and only one, alas) and a few other
obnoxious details that I'd change, but right now, this morning,
I'm appreciating the fireplace and the warmth of our home. Ah yes,
I'm fully aware of NO BURN days and I respect them ~ just not yet,
please and thank you.

this long scary summer

I could put a photo of a California fire, any California fire, in here
this morning, but by now we've all seen so many of these that
we know exactly what it looks like with the weary firefighters
in their hot, heavy yellow jackets.

My friend Meriel lost her family cabin in the Santa Cruz
mountains ~ her father and grand parents are buried there.
And last night Michael in Goleta emailed me that they have
been told to prepare to evacuate. He said he has read and clipped
articles on what to take and what to leave during an emergency.
Not that he can locate them now that he needs those lists.

Oh what we'd give for a light rain on all of these hot spots.
I am worried.