20191026_175436

 


20191017_131857

i got TWO paper maps from the AAA place.  She just gave them to me.   This one is of North California.  See all the Green.  National Forest,  all the green.  And then,  extending from all that green is

forest

where now,  many homes are built.   In forests.  The ….people….species, homosapiens….all building these homes WANT things in those homes.   They want not just an electric lightbulb to see to cook and read,  but they want freezers full of food.  TVs.   Instantpots to cook a dinner in an instant.  What else…?….lots of stuff.  Requiring electricity.  AND they do not want FIRE.

so well,  ok.  now what do we do?

they are saying  that tonight an extreme WIND   "event".   

so now,  we don't just need to be alert to Fire,  but we need to be alert to Wind.    Wind.   I think of that,  being from New Mexico where extreme WIND conditions are a regular experience.   Here tho,  they push fire.  They knock down trees.   In New Mexico there's not much to burn,  not trees to knock down in a desert.  Here,  they say if you are in a travel trailer and there are large trees nearby,   move….move your space.  Hmmmm.

We need to stand and FACE.  

i spent early day moving the plants we bought at the  Master Gardeners Sale to safe space from wind.  

this Place here.  This Hill.  It's at the edge of  "civilization" and Forest.  Not deep into Forest.  I understand the desire to live deep into forest.  Totally.  But maybe we cannot.   OR,  maybe we can.  But simultaneously know that at any moment it might all be lost.   That what we NEED might take us out.

the first pic is of an Air Plant i got at the Little Red Hen Nursery.   It can go anywhere.  Be moved around.  I spritzed it with water today.  It was happy. 

How to live like an Air Plant?

Dark is approaching.  Talkie is UP on her branches.  I can hear in the distance the whir of generators fueling our beloved place of Lakeside Market…its  grocery store,  its  gas pumps,  its propane refill station.  There's a lot of traffic that i hear.  People are getting ready.  But we keep getting ready in a crazy way that cannot sustain.  

I am not at all sorry to have become Here in the midst of this.  California,  the place where so much is GROWN for the entire country,  California…such an iconic place…i am not sorry to be here now.   But i would hope that the whole country will watch,  as we burn.  Will somehow understand what's happening.  That what we are doing,  wanting to continue doing,  is not working.

i have an urge to go on.  To keep recording,  as witness to this night.  But i'm tired and morning WILL COME and the Goats will want to be fed and given water.   So…enough.  What will be, will be.

 

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14 responses to “a today. October 26, 2019 a Saturday”

  1. Dana Avatar

    Keep safe through the night.

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  2. Michelle Slater Avatar

    THIS MORNING I GOOGLED CALIFORNIA FIRE thinking of you.
    Lit a candle (ironic)- just a light, a metaphor, a prayer.

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  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Que sera sera .. yes what will be .. will be 🎵🎶 Big Big Hugs Grace!

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  4. Patty Avatar

    A sane, loving point of view. Thank you for this.

    Like

  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Nerve wracking to say the least…one daughter lives in San Francisco, spared any threat of power outages. Other daughter and her family live in the East Bay so constantly on edge,just like earlier in the month for first PG & E shut off. Yesterday notified that power will go out at 3 pm, doesn’t; again notified that power will go out at 5 pm, doesn’t; lastly notified that power will go out at 8pm- don’t know if it did or not, no word yet. Good thing in all of this is that they are prepared, extra water, supplies, easy food, large cool chest for frozen but this limbo of will it go off, will it stay on is hard…still they are safe, have not had to evacuate, unlike years ago when both girls attended college in San Francisco and were forced to evacuate their dorms during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Earthquakes, fires, wind storms,floods…stand and face by being as prepared as you can be but sometimes, you don’t have all that much warning.

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  6. yvette Avatar

    Grace…….constant worrie….

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  7. grace Forrest Avatar

    it’s Morning, Yvette. WIND was very strong through
    the night. And still off and on this morning, but
    Sun is strong too.
    It’s something different than worry. I don’t know
    how to give it words…it’s some kind of Alertness
    or Sensitivity ? More like that.
    There is no fear for my life, or Tays. We could
    run. end up safe.
    But to take the Goats, Talkie, Puppy….that’s
    the challenge. But we are as ready as possible. And
    so soon the season will turn and Rain will come. and
    all will breathe easy for months.
    Time for constant learning. I do not regret the
    need to Learn.
    love to you

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar

    well…it just is what it is.
    today i’ll finish preparing the B Garden for receiving
    the plants i brought home. I set the Fig and Pomegranate tree over to the side in with 3 small Toyon trees,
    hoping to give them some cover from gusts of Wind.
    Am not sure now where to plant them…will go look
    soon at how things fared.
    even tho all this, i know i could not live in town.

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes…i can hear you Singing!

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar

    it’s Morning. All is well

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  11. Deb G Avatar

    Yes, my sense is that California is burning…but that sense comes from family not so much from the news. Maybe because I avoid a lot of national news? How we live, where we live…something does need to change. During a discussion recently, a woman in the group I was with said she was wondering what she was able to give up so that her children might live. Important question. Sending love.

    Like

  12. Liz A Avatar

    this post, these comments … so much to understand, to learn from
    and this most of all:
    “That what we are doing, wanting to continue doing, is not working.”

    Like

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