ACHOO

[kyburg]

The inside of my nose is bloody, those who got to work today are all sneezing like whack a moles in our cubicles (I took my Alavert) and my nice red car is a nice dusty shade of brown. Everything is COVERED in ashes, and the winds just keep blowing the smoke away - so at the beach? We know there are fires, we can smell them - but unless we get out to where we can see horizons...we can't see them.

Over a dozen out-of-control wildfires...between a two hour drive north of me, to the Mexican border. I've seen all these areas burn before...and they will again, don't think they won't...but I can't recall a time when so MANY areas were on fire all at the same time.

Surely, some of these are arson. The press conferences last night were blaming electrical line falls due to the wind. That's a lot of downed lines. Part of me wonders how much of the lack of maintenance might be blamed for this as well.

I'm contacting who I can to funnel shoes - I still have 14 pairs I can do between now and the end of the year, and four pair I can get Johnny on the spot if I have to in addition. I also have a back yard with a brand new fence for animal evacuees - will be calling those guys as well.

One of the guys I work with couldn't get here to day. The schools are closed and he and his family have been evacuated - he emailed pictures in with the news. It looked like when Mount St. Helens blew.

..

Which makes irony on top of irony - as I Googled to get the right spelling, this popped up:

Stubblefield, who retired eight years ago as the supervisor of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and now lives in the Ridgefield area, served as master of ceremonies for the grand opening on May 15, 1993. He's disappointed that the Forest Service, now strapped for cash, has chosen to permanently close the center after the last visitor leaves on Nov. 5.

"It's such an incredible spot," he said, gazing out toward the cloud-shrouded volcano. "I feel privileged and honored to have spent some time here."

Stubblefield laments the closure as another symptom of a throwaway society, arguing that the state's congressional delegation hasn't done enough to protect the public's investment. He contends that if it was important enough for Congress to establish the 110,000-acre national volcanic monument, as it did in 1982, it deserves a stable source of funding every year. He also suggested another use be found for the building, perhaps as a base for outdoor excursions or even a hotel.

Good grief.

I'm also thinking calling out the taiko drummers wouldn't be a bad idea.

Comments

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

The only one I've heard for sure is arson is Santiago Cyn in Orange County. But I'm sure there is a firebug somewhere taking advantage of this.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I looked at the site for that, and I think one of the reasons Coldwater is going buh-bye is that there's a newer, better, closer observatory on Johnston Ridge that looks right down the schnozz of the mountain... the view from Coldwater is kinda sideways and a bit far off, where as from the back windows or deck of Johnston Ridge you're Up Close And Personal™ with Little Sister. I've been to both, and Coldwater was uninspiring... and for whatever reason it seems to be falling apart.

*thinks* The hotel idea wouldn't be bad; there's something similar on Rainier as well as on Hood...

Hopefully we'll have someone in office that Won't Suck in another year and change and we can start the long process of cleaning up this mess... but with the budget they've got it seems like they're doing the right thing. Maybe if we can quit spending bullets and kerosene like it's going out of style we can throw some of those billions Smokey Bear's way... maybe.

And, yeah. taiko drummers == rain dance? If that's true, yeah... and maybe for the east coast, too, the drought there is as bad if not worse.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Taiko drumming is a temple art, designed to scare the FUCK out of fire spirits.

*laughs*

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

yes, definitely with the taiko drummers, then.

(And, hey, rain would definitely put a damper on the fire spirits, no? :)

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

At least two of the fires are arson, according to a panel discussion I listened to on KPCC.

I was shocked to hear that there's a fire in Thousand Oaks and Irvine, and of course, we were in Malibu on Saturday evening. But the winds have been high, and that's made things worse.

I'm considering opening up the house, since so many people have been evacuated.

Be safe.

[the-paulr.livejournal.com]

1992 (or was it 1993?) was the worst that I remember. Not only Malibu, San Diego and Angeles National Forest, but that area in Pasadena near JPL - can't think of the name offhand.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

La Canada/Flintridge.

Most of the places on fire? They were trying to skirt it on the local news as delicately as they could, but the biggest losses were in neighborhoods owned by oil company executives.

But if you look at the map? Most of the worst ones are in pass areas - the wind tunnels. It just wouldn't take much at all.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Good luck on the winds dying down. I'm thinking the energy put out by taiko drummers is really good for everyone involved, too.

[djdig.livejournal.com]

I heard about the fire getting worse on the news this morning and began worrying about you.

I'm glad you're safe so far.