A Breath of Fresh Air

The majority of the fires burning around us have been contained. There are still some hot spots and fires further from us that are burning, but we have been able to open the windows to get some fresh air. We have had a busy couple of weeks and received some good news in that I received my job back - same position and same school.

Dr. D went on a tour of some of the burned areas. He had quite a few pictures that looked like this.

This is a picture of one of the fires they were still working on.

Check out this beetle we found under the trash can. It was almost the size of one of Dr. D's fingers.
Miss S having fun at the park.

This little monkey is all stretched out.

Dr. D went to a conference in Boulder, Colorado and was able to visit the rockies.

Enjoying an afternoon by the creek.

Miss S had fun with her cousins at our place.

Enjoying the view off the ground.

Miss S and her big cousin at Manzanita Lake.

Miss S and her little cousin at Summit Lake.

We headed to the Bay area. Miss S loved the ponies at Gilroy Gardens.

She was plenty happy driving around too.

We went for a train ride through the redwoods.

Dr. D and Miss S at the beach by the Santa Cruz boardwalk.

Now that is an expensive gallon of gas at $5.21.

I was able to see some of my friends from my first year in the dorms. Including my roommate to the right in the picture who I have not seen in over 10 years.

When we returned home many things in the garden had really taken off. It was a very slow start this summer, we think because of the smoke. Now that it has cleared and there is more sunlight getting through we are seeing quick growth.

Some peppers..

pumpkins..

and our grapes have been sending out lots of new leaves.

Ashes, Ashes

Here is the scene at the edge of our property looking east-southeast at 5:45 AM (what we awoke to on 7/8). The plumes of smoke are rising from the two drainages beyond the one in the foreground (2-5 miles away). The fires are still far enough away, and burning parallel to us (which coincide with the dominant wind patterns for this region).

The smoke screen makes for a scenic sunrise, but is a reminder that we live in a fire-prone landscape (as do many people in our state).

It is hard to fathom what sorts of things are carried by wind-driven fires. Above is a collection of leaves (madrones, big leaf maple, bay, black oak, tan oak, and some that may be live oak) and pine bark. A penny is the circular object placed for scale. While burning embers may ignite spotfires, none of these objects were hot upon landing. In studies of spotfires under windy conditions hot embers typically do not carry more than 1 km (0.6 miles).

A lot of fine particulate also fell. This reminds Dr. D of the tunnel fire (AKA Oakland Hills) and ash deposits he saw from that. Knowing that homes were lost in this fire, it leaves a strong impression to consider the ash may be from a lost home.

...and the skies are not cloudy all day. Oh! With exception to July 4th and a few afternoon clearings we have not had clear skies for nearly three weeks. Here is a shot looking up our driveway through a mild smoke inversion. The smoke cover definitely makes the 90-100 degree days not feel so intense as the direct sunlight is highly filtered.

As if there were not enough irons in the fire (pun intended), Mama L located an advertisement for free pick-yourself plums. Dr. D picked a full bushel, that over a two day period became plum jam/syrup, sauce, sorbet and a cobbler.

Here are those clear skies I mentioned on July 4th. A bucket-carrying sky crane heads to one of the local fires. We went out to the deck hundreds of times. Miss S. begged and pleaded "I wanna see it... I wanna see it" each time she heard one nearby. Some were only a few hundred feet above.

The shirt from grandma sums this stage in Miss S' life up the best "I'm independent".

Someone wants to cook with the big pots like daddy.

Anna wins the award for patience and tolerance. Yes, that is her beneath the blanket and Miss S. We could not have asked for better dogs with children as they are constantly harassed (but loved) by Miss S.