Commentor Kelly, finding the hope amid desolation:
On September 7th, hurricane force east winds and very low humidity fanned fires in Oregon that burned several hundred thousand acres overnight and a million acres in a week.
A neighbor pounded on our door at 1 am Sept 8th warning us we needed to evacuate. Horrible choking smoke outside made it clear the situation was dire. Gathered the cats and fled by 1:30.
We returned two weeks later. The Beachie Fire had stopped 20 feet from our home at the edge of our well watered shrubs.
The woods in the Cascades are adapted to fire. Intellectually this comforts me but the cycle of recovery will extend past my lifetime. My grandchildren will see the something like the woods I loved but the Old Growth that burned is gone for centuries.
It isn’t all gone within the 60 x 40 mile footprint of the Beachie, Lionshead and Riverside fires. It’s a mosaic, at least half is still green. It burnt hard along some beautiful river corridors I’ve loved since I was a child. I will grieve my favorite trails and kayak runs on the North Santiam, Little North Santiam, Breitenbush, Molalla and Clackamas rivers for a long time.
Here are the first signs of life at the edge of the woods behind our home.
***********
So beautiful!
What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Baud
Early garden post today.
OMG.
Mary G
Way too close a call, and I’m sorry for the loss of your beloved spaces. The green shoots are comforting – is that first shot a pea?
WereBear
Lovely, just the thing I needed this morning.
Steeplejack
Appropriate for this thread, and retweeted by Cole.
Geminid
I am going to put down a couple partial bags of lime I’ve been looking at for a couple of months, on a patch of the acre or so of my landlord’s grass that I mow. A science project, to see if the grass grows better. It probably will; I’m on the east side of the Blue Ridge, and soils here usually need a little lime, or a lot of lime. I saw some relatively cheap bags of gypsum at Lowe’s the other day. That’s good stuff, a mix of calcium and sulfur, both important plant nutrients. Gypsum is ph neutral. I’ll pick a couple bags up for the vegetable garden I scarcely planted this past year.
OzarkHillbilly
In the aftermath of fires also comes bumper crops of morels. It won’t lessen the loss of your beloved trees, but they might help soothe the sorrow.
satby
Glad the fire stopped short of your house Kelly! I’m sorry your old familiar landscape with old growth trees is gone. The new growth is the promise it’s going to come back for you: a different beauty but still beautiful.
Steeplejack
Golf’s European tour is playing today in San Vigilio di Pozzolengo, Italy, between Brescia and Verona at the foot of Lake Garda in northern Italy. It’s 77° and sunny there in the early afternoon. Soothing to have it on as video wallpaper. Beautiful scenery and unobtrusive commentary.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah, @Baud:
Good morning! ?
satby
My garden is pretty done for the year until the last spring bulbs I ordered get delivered (probably this week). Then I’ll plant them, mulch (finally!), and call it a year. Also later this week some leaf vacuum-mulching to put around shrubs and trees both as mulch and to compost in place. That will be ongoing because the trees are still mostly full.
I was just mentally planning my first trip abroad once we have a vaccine and a sane enough government that other countries will let us in again. Fall of next year if the stars align.
rikyrah Good morning!
NotMax
On the ‘lighter’ side – Cluster of Mysterious Lights Observed Across Maui.
MazeDancer
Twenty feet is so scary. But thank goodness for each of them.
Thanks for the pics of hope.
pb3550
Thank you for this morsel of hope. I would very much like to see some photos of the burned forest 20 feet behind you. It’s been very hard here on the east coast to fathom the devastation. TV clips & newspaper pics tell a piece of the story from last summer, but what does it look like now behind & above your tiny greens? and in the spring? and next summer.
Immanentize
Kelly, I remember the picture you linked to of the fire line and your house below it. Whew! But you gotta love ferns. Prehistoric life ready for any drama sent their way. Thanks!
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I’m still waiting for my bulbs. It took almost a month for my Biden/Harris stickers to get here (still no “No on 3″ sign) Our mail service still sucks.
Skepticat
Mother Nature has a very warped sense of humor. They say a miss is as good as a mile, but 20 feet? Maze Dancer puts it perfectly—thank goodness for each of them.
I’m very happy your home is safe, and it’s encouraging to see that the surroundings are rebounding. Although I lost all but my cistern in Dorian, I’m hoping to return to the cay in December, and I’m looking forward to working in what remains of my gardens and yard.
Immanentize
@Skepticat: so sorry about such a loss for you.
germy
We grow collard greens every year. And I’ll say this about them: they’re tough as hell. They stay green and healthy into the winter. Last year we went outside, brushed some snow off them and picked a bunch for a soup dish.
Geminid
I’ll also pick a few red habanero peppers for a batch of chili I’ll make this afternoon. I put the habaneros in late, and I’ll need to get them covered against frost to get all the peppers. Habaneros are too hot for many people, but they sure make a pretty plant- big, dark green leaves, and a more compact growth habit than your typical pepper.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Our mail service still sucks.
I pretty much assume it’s going to stay that way until after Jan. 3rd, when a new Congress with the TraitorTurtle in the minority position can start fixing things.
debbie
@Steeplejack:
Actually, yes. I have a jade that has tripled in size over a bit more than a year. I can barely lift it!
debbie
Kelly, I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to evacuate with the fire so close, but those tiny green shoots tell me the earth will survive whatever horrors we visit on it. Thanks for sharing.
A Ghost to Most
Snow is falling now on the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires that surround Estes Park. Parts of RMNP have burned, including Moraine Park. Firefighters are holding the fire from the town so far. Hopefully, heavy snow will knock the fires down.
MomSense
From harrowing to hopeful. Thank you for sharing this with us today.
I’m sewing buttons and pockets on a cardigan this morning and catching up on the news. We had to take a break from it yesterday.
The pup almost caught our thanksgiving turkey yesterday. If that sucker hadn’t flown into a tree at the last minute (I didn’t know they could do that) she would have caught it.
Ken
Last night I noted that tropical depression 28 was likely to become a tropical storm. It did so overnight, and we’re now up to Zeta, tying the record set in 2005. Its forecast track has it clipping the Yucatan then hitting Louisiana, again.
The wikipedia page for the 2020 season has already been updated. If you’re looking for a drinking game to put you in a coma, read it and take a sip every time you hit a superlative (“largest”, “earliest”, “most severe”) or a reference to a record being broken. The phrase “very unprecedented” even appears.
Ken
Calls for this, of course.
When you said the puppy almost caught it, I thought for a moment you were thawing the turkey way too early.
MomSense
@Ken:
Oh I miss that show. I was just young enough when it aired that I probably missed half of the jokes.
I wonder if it is available for streaming .
eclare
@Ken: Such a classic scene!
mrmoshpotato
@Ken:
Same here.
“Chicken for Thanksgiving because ol’ Turkey Jaws McGraw snagged the bird.”
mrmoshpotato
@MomSense: I hope there was mass amounts of gobbling in protest.
Ken
@MomSense: Amazon has season 1, not sure about the others. For many years the show was in copyright purgatory because of the snippets of music, but I think that was resolved a few years back.
OzarkHillbilly
@MomSense: Wild turkeys don’t have the over developed breasts that the Broad Breasted domestic turkeys have been bred into, hence they can still fly.
Geminid
@Ken: There is a saying in the Carribean about hurricane season: “July, by and by. August, come they must. September, remember. October, all over.” Pretty soon they may have to change it to, “October, take cover.”
Aleta
@OzarkHillbilly: We used to have a flock of wild turkeys in the old neighborhood and they’d fly up into the spruce trees to roost in the evening and down in the morning. Noisy flapping because of their size and I don’t remember them getting much of a head start before going up. Strong birds. We laughed at them though.
OzarkHillbilly
Here comes Hurricane Zeta.
OzarkHillbilly
@Aleta: Other than in spring when they are nesting, they like to keep together in a flock, both while roosting or feeding. The “many eyes” defense.
Betty
So sorry for all these devastating losses. We must have serious leadership to address climate change urgently. Frightening to think of what lies ahead even if we get it together now.
mrmoshpotato
@Aleta:
Mocking remorse? ?
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly: How long until Dump draws a dick on that hurricane?
Sab
Planning to do hugelkultur next year. I have the lumber all sawed and ready. Any advise on nails or whatever I need to asemble the boxes?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Jesus. Louisiana is going to get hit again.
Charluckles
I had to cancel a large order of bulbs. They were mail delayed getting to the wholesaler and in anticipation of them being again delayed getting to me I just decided to forget it for this year. Bummer.
Baud
It had not occured to me that this hadn’t happened before now.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sab: Galvanized, 16 penny for nailing the 2x lumber together, 8s for the 1x. If you have a hard time driving a nail without bending it, pre-drilling will help. Or just do like I do and use a nail gun. Don’t rent tho, borrow if you can. If you rent, you have to buy the nails by the box, which gets you a thousand nails, 975 of which you’ll never use, for the grand price of $45.
Or you can use exterior grade screws, 3″ and 2″ respectively.
Sab
@Charluckles: Send them to me. Haven’t ordered this year. Haven’t done much this year. Embarrasing.
My spouse of twenty years just informed me that his grandmother was English, as in born there. He is a very Irish American Catholic who hates all Brits, so I was quite surprised. In retrospect, she was actually a horrible person, so maybe I cannot blame the nuns for his anti-English antagonism. It’s personal. Live and learn. Even the closest to us surprise us.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Yep. Hoping my son can still tread water.
Sab
@OzarkHillbilly: Which is better? Screws or nails?
jeffreyw
@Geminid:
I grow a pot of habs every year, for decoration. They do make a nice sauce. Usually they are orange. Often they come with cats.
Sab
@jeffreyw: That is such a beautiful cat picture.
Aleta
@jeffreyw: That cat has professional cat calendar skills.
jeffreyw
@Sab: It is one of my favorite cat pics. I’m well pleased that Bea stayed there long enough for the shot.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sab: For your purposes, screws, but they take more time to use. The big advantage nails have over screws is shear strength so in load bearing situations that is generally what one wants. That’s not an issue for you here. Definitely predrill any 1x to avoid splitting at the ends. 2x should be OK, but predrilling makes it easier there too.
MagdaInBlack
@jeffreyw: What a great picture =-)
eclare
@jeffreyw: Wow! Great photo!
Eunicecycle
@Ken: First thing I thought of! (WKRP)
RaflW
I’m in MN but watching CO very closely. It finally has started to snow east of the continental divide, and I think it will fill in west of the divide soon. I had hoped to wake up to at least a couple of inches on most cams, based on yesterday’s forecast for overnight.
The fires there are freaking me out. I left Summit County before the Calwood or East Troublesome fires had started, but experienced a week of smoke from Williams Fork. The need for moisture is extreme, and after this snow, there’s yet another warm dry cycle expected. Crap.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Have you seen the new rotating tag with the dick/sharpie reference?
WaterGirl
@jeffreyw: I have always grown the orange ones, but there is a variety that is red, which is what the organic guy at the farmer’s market sells.
Geminid
@Sab: Screws are nice if you ever want to repair or reconfigure the structures. Deck screws have a durable coating, so they last. Still good to predrill the holes.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
The first year we grew habs they were red. Not sure where they were purchased. I think probably at one of the big box stores during their spring parking lot displays. Ever since then the orange variety is all they have on offer.
Kelly
The green shoots are
WaterGirl
2021 Pet Calendar reminder:
There are now 3 calendar links in the sidebar. If you have started the process for submitting pics, you should be on one of the 3 lists. Lists up-to-date as of 10am today (10/25).
List #1: everything is in, please verify that the information in the spreadsheet is correct.
List #2: your photos are not high enough resolution, so please submit higher res versions if you can, or let me know that you can’t, and Beth will use the ones you sent. It’s just that the photo will be smaller in the calendar because of resolution issues.
List #3: you have the link but haven’t sent your photos in yet.
Note: I will continue to check those threads for responses.
Deadline for photo uploads is a week from today on November 1.
MomSense
@jeffreyw:
That is an amazing photo.
debbie
@RaflW:
I read that Arctic air will pour into the middle of the country this week. Snow aside, does extreme cold have any effect on fire?
CapnMubbers
The sad part about green new growth in Paradise: I chose to relocate rather than rebuild on my 0.75 acre lot. I could sell (while lot prices are low) or hold onto it while values go up. Every year, though, I pay to keep the lot cleared—fire danger because of rampant new growth. $2,000 this year. Water, $264 per year though there is no water. (If I have the meter removed it costs $5,000 for a new connection which I would have to do to rebuild or sell.) Liability insurance costs $589 for an empty lot, more than I paid for full coverage with the house before the fire. Nearly $3,000 per year pretty much wipes out any increase in value so I’m seriously considering selling to my downhill neighbor who plans on rebuilding, though the town will not resemble the one that burned either visually or as a thriving community in our lifetime.
Skepticat
@Immanentize:
Thank you for the kind thought. It’s been … interesting. I’m always happy to hear of others who have been spared the trauma of loss, though there are fewer and fewer of us now.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby: We’ve been planning our dream trips too. *All* we need is a sane president who will implement the necessary measures to get this plague under control.
Ken
@jeffreyw: It looks like a scene from a nature program. “This Felis species builds its nest within the Capiscum, sheltered by its dangerous fruits. But the symbiosis goes further…”
Ken
Remember when we didn’t think that was a lot to ask?
RaflW
@debbie: I believe so, yes. Heat definitely does make things worse, so yes I think cold fuel temperatures matter too.
jeffreyw
@Ken:
It reminds me of the clown fish that take cover within the fronds of stinging sea anemones.
worn
I haven’t yet been brave enough to venture out into the woods to see just how bad the fires were. I think it will just break my heart (especially on top of that stupid, unnecessary fire in the Gorge a few years back caused by a teenager throwing lit smoke bombs into the woods). I’ve been visiting the MacKenzie River valley for decades now. As I write I wonder if my ‘special grove’ up near Horse Creek is now gone. The fire maps are not dispositive about whether it was spared or burned. Could be either.
But I am so glad that the conflagration didn’t consume your house, Kelly. Some friends of mine who live just outside of Estacada experienced the same thing as you; they returned to their property to find the fire had stoppped on the other side of the drive leading to their home. Their immediatre neighbors were not so lucky.
So many people lost so much. It is just boggles my mind.