20190909_094137

i don't know what they call this kind of land here.  The word i know is prairie.  So, prairie in 3 directions.  Out there,  if you click to magnify is a large crescent moon.  I asked but no one i asked knew.  So…a large crescent moon.  Sitting in the prairie.

So back to Saturday.  We could have gone here Saturday night.  Jenny had called the North Valley Animal Disaster Group inquiring about places willing to take Goats.   Got this Camelot place and called,  and yes,  they said,  come.  You are welcome.  This was their first time to volunteer.    So we could have gone Saturday night.  But by the time we got out,  it had become dark.  Alyssia doesn't know how to drive a stick shift  (she will learn now).  Jenny's man wasn't here.   That left me.  OR,  i guess i could have driven the Old Cowboy truck with the horse trailer?…i think of that just now….?….but it didn't come up and it was the Toyota pick up with the doe Goats in the Goat Boat.   My vision isn't good at night.  I have never pulled anything with the Toyota.  I haven't pulled anything for 20 some years,  period.   Last year,  when we evacuated for the Paradise fire,  i just said  "I can't".    because i just couldn't.   It was all still  too  new,  Everything.   I still had no real sense of my self  since moving.  I was vague.  But this time,  i needed to try.   I voted to stay the night in the Casino parking lot…huge…about a mile away.   Jenny was unsure about the wisdom of that…an old woman a dog and a trailer of Goats in a lot with myriad forms of humanity.  But she let it go and  went home for a couple hours,  came back and slept in her car.  Tay and i slept in the truck…only a small front seat,  but good enough.  Early morning we set out.   

i was afraid.   But the Goat Boat pulls smooth.   I found the Big Highway way more easy to negotiate than i'd imagined.   Tay did well.  Lying down on the seat when asked instead of standing and panting.  We did it.  

And now,  it's done.  The first time is over.   That's all it takes.   I am READY.   I've Got It.  We left things hooked up because there is nothing that says we won't need to leave again.   Fire season is not over until the Rain begins in October maybe.  This fire was not expected because it lit in the footprint of the Carr Fire of 2017.   So it's understood that no one can predict anything.

While at Camelot,  that boards many horses and otherwise hosts equestrian Events…dressage,  jumping,  trail etc.   I watched people work.   How they begin at first light,  their particular tasks,  maybe cleaning stalls and hauling with a fourwheeler out to where they dump it.  Or exercising horses…riding out with one,  coming back and riding out again with another.   And i met over the course of the day with the North Valley Animal Disaster Group people who were there to care for any evacuees….in this case,  horses.   They too,  worked.  Steady.  Through the Days.  And when i say people,  it's Women.  There was an elder man and one younger man,  employees of Camelot,  but all otherwise were women.    The North Valley  group,  all women in their 60's, except for the one…maybe mid 40's who was in charge.  Women.  Steady.  All day.  Their energy,  steady.  They smiled and shared gentle conversation.   But they worked.  And the Vibe there was an incredible Hum.  Strong and full of a soft glow light.

i watch.  Learn how to live here,  in a land that can be in flames at any time.   When it's in flames,  you do certain things.  When it isn't,  you just go,  with Love and Commitment to Life.   You don't hold on to the Flame days.   Like the Goats.  You take up where you left off.  Like Talkie.  Like Puppy.   

It's a beauty FULL evening.  

 

 

 

 

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24 responses to “first times”

  1. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    I am glad you are safe Grace. and glad that you say when you just can’t do something. that must be taken into consideration in the whole picture. all the readying of yourselves. praying that the fires are done with.

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  2. Deb G Avatar

    This is a beautiful post and it’s a beauty FULL evening here too, golden fall sunset and peaceful. My grandmother in California would call this prairie. She calls the area she grew up in the prairie and it has small pines, other small shrubs. So different than the redwoods that it edges.

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  3. grace Forrest Avatar

    we are even more prepared now. We are Ready.
    It’s on into October, and the Camp Fire last year was
    November 8. So ….we go.
    But tonight, it’s so BeautyFULL

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  4. grace Forrest Avatar

    thank you for telling me this. Just so close is Paradise, the town of all the pines. and at the far distance, canyons and forest, buttes.
    But here…prairie. The first time for me with Prairie.

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  5. Nanette Avatar

    I wish I could find my way to not hold onto the flood days. I love hearing these fire planning and evacuation tales. We’ve had fires around here, big ones, destroying many hectares of rainforest, buildings, homes and farms, as well as the wildlife. Not close to me, but close enough to see the smoke and have it fill our valley. And it’s only early spring, fears for what summer will bring.

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  6. Anna Avatar

    Grace, I feel such pride for you, learning such a new way of life, becoming so strong and able to do so much more than you knew. Yes, life is beauty FUL for you because you are willing to adapt even when it is seemingly impossible. You are a woman among women there, doing what needs to be done. Love

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  7. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    You are Amazing .. the way you keep going is just soooo great. As always thank you for sharing your everyday experiences here. I continue to learn from you and those that comment everyday. I am feeling thankful ..

    Like

  8. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    The first time, it was so unknown: This time, you did what needed doing, even with the fear of hauling the goats, you just carried on. As you wrote of the women, steady, working, giving off a soft glow, well you fit right in. This experience is huge because you are ready, and keeping things hooked up is so very wise. The biggest take away for me and I’m sure for everyone who comes here is that you live in the present and are prepared for the future, not dwelling on the fear of what outcomes could happen but the knowing of how to stand and face whatever comes…

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  9. Linda Avatar
    Linda

    Fires have become our new norm. We have been lucky this year but as you say, it is not over. Glad to know that you are safe and ready for whatever. Thinking of you.

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  10. Patty Avatar

    It’s amazing how many folks out there work hard for other people and
    their animals. No big deal, no hype, just quietly, steadily working. I’m inspired, thank you for this, Grace.

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  11. ² Avatar
    ²

    what a discovery of live , and everything go well , love you and tay , good animal and woman end the car and all our energie close by , the prayers the love the….. what ever we use to connect when it’s necessary even from over the ocean , greet’s

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  12. Mo Crow Avatar

    love that stark moon out in the paddock

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar

    there’s nothing to do but the best we can. The fires,
    the floods, they will come.
    we learn. we do our best.
    the difference here, me and your flood days, is that you DID have the flood, your chooks floated. Me, not burned. Just the possibility. A significant difference. There is no real way to erase the experience. It imprints. But i watch the Goats. Your chooks continued, yes? After floating? They just go. just go. The earth just goes.
    I don’t know what else.
    LOVE to you, Nanette

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  14. grace Forrest Avatar

    we are ALL that, women among women.
    I sent you an email about your cards…the stitched
    mushroom it has such meaning to me right now

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  15. grace Forrest Avatar

    i had your quilt with me, on me.

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes…that’s all there is. Stand and Face. And it’s all somehow just very OK.
    I talked to Bill back in N Mex last eve and the tenor of his voice betrayed his words. He thinks i’m crazy. He
    said…we don’t have that here.
    No, it’s not there.
    Would i wish i could escape it? no…i wish the Land
    didn’t have to burn. But personally?,
    It’s where i live now, it’s part of what is happening on this planet. There have always been fires in California, it’s what happens at the end of the summer of DRY before the Rains come. What’s different is that i Live here. That was my choice. To live here. So you Run when you need to and if you are lucky, you come back and everything is as you left it or you come back and nothing is as you left it but you begin again. There’s just nothing else to say. But i do not regret. i do not regret. I am a small part of SomeThing very Large. I take my place. I try to understand my place and just love the days.

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  17. grace Forrest Avatar

    Linda, i think of you too. We go

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  18. grace Forrest Avatar

    that’s it….no big deal. no hype. just doing. I am so inspired by THEM. They just WANT TO. If i wasn’t so old i would be with them

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  19. grace Forrest Avatar

    from over the ocean, from Belgium, you don’t know how
    often i think of this…think of
    Maria
    Over There
    watching, caring, smiling with such Heart

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  20. grace Forrest Avatar

    isn’t it WonderFULL? it’s almost best that it remains
    a mystery, just a crescentmoon, lightly resting in the
    far away

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  21. Michelle Slater Avatar

    What sense you make of reality. It’s comforting. You know now what getting out feels like and if/when there is a next time, you will be ready. That photograph is inspiring.

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  22. Acey Avatar
    Acey

    This is the CA landscape that holds pieces of my soul. I managed to breathe very deeply while also feeling on the constant verge of holding my breath. For days now I have been disconnected from electronics and everything else that isn’t right in front of me – under my feet or in my hands. Slowly but surely taking stock of my soul as well as the landscape. Nourishing and nurturing. Slowing all the way down. Came back to find all of this in the new branch of your California triumphs and teachings.
    When I spent that teenage summer in Willits it blew my mind how well and thoroughly everyone lived with fire as well as earthquakes. Sometimes I shared my thoughts. People laughed and called me an uptight easterner. I thought how much personal evolution every single pioneer had to facilitate in order to become a successful westerner. And now climate change and an overtaxed planet. Still life remains undeniably beautiful. And in that shared story of human beauty you are a unique and courageous reminder to live what is true and most meaningful.
    I remember years back now, before the goats’ arrival … when on an instinct I sent you the Joyous Warrior essence. And you said YES it was a good instinct. You were getting ready, Grace. You knew of something coming even if no details of the events and places that have come to pass. That level of showing up for planet as well as the self’s passions and interests – I love that about the Jude-based collective of women as a whole but you are somebody very special to know. Know and be known by. Yes. All day every day.

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  23. grace Forrest Avatar

    to know and be known by…perfect and elegant.
    WE are Lucky.
    and Acey, i think it’s time again for
    Joyous Warrior?
    I request.
    and i went through some of the print outs from days of yore and
    found the one of the RoosterFlower Cloth i sent you.
    How closely we are tied, our threads like the rootlets of
    the plants, same.
    Love and way more,

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  24. grace Forrest Avatar

    i am thinking this morning, Sunday the 15th about
    how it is all being woven in…what is good
    about it, what needs help

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