the oak fire started in midpines at about 2:10pm on friday, july 22.
we saw a couple fire trucks blow past the house with lights and sirens so i got on the local fire info page on facebook and tuned into an online emergency scanner. from scanner chatter and the plume of smoke that became visible very shortly after the fire started it was clear this fire had the potential to do a lot of damage. we watched and listened a little longer. i heard the phrase "dangerous rate of spread". the fire was growing and moving rapidly and the wind was not in our favor.
we started preparing to evacuate.
about 2 hrs later the fire had traveled about 3.5 - 4 miles and was ripping along the ridge behind us. as mom and i were loading the ducks into the trailer helitankers hovered above us fighting a spot fire that had broken out on the neighboring property to the northeast.
vehicles loaded and everyone accounted for. i took one last look around as i walked out to get into my truck and without feeling any hope or fear i told the gardens and woods around me "do your best".
mom went to my aunt's place in chowchilla. zane and i towed the duck trailer in my truck and staal, benji, and blackie followed us in the car to the friedland ranch.
we got word from a neighbor who had stayed that our place was still standing. he sent us this picture:
we were allowed to return 8 days after evacuating. the power had gone out about an hour after the fire started and wasn't restored until 3 days after we returned. we did fine running the generator occasionally and using an ice chest my aunt loaned us.
the fire consumed nearly 20,000 acres. many homes were destroyed, including several very close to ours.
i'm grateful we're all safe. i'm grateful mom's house wasn't damaged. i'm grateful staal and i had a safe place to take the animals and grateful they had a home we could bring them back to. i'm grateful for everyone who worked to fight the fire, keep people safe, and put things back together.
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| up the cherry tree |
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| mostly lettuce |
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| plum |
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| a misty buckingham mountain and blooming quince |
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| quince in this morning's snow |
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| wild turkeys in repose |
after several weeks of clear, sunny days in the 60s and 70s we got a little snow this morning---maybe 1" to 1 1/2" and mostly melted now. starting to see a few snowflakes coming down again now and we may get a little more rain/snow tonight. grateful for it and hoping march will roar for us.
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| snow angel |
after the restlessness of early morning
fire stoked
coffee made
we rejoin in bed
hot cups
warm blankets
cat curled between my ankles
dog curled against my leg
man at my side reading poetry aloud
i want to freeze this moment
to stay here
this way
forever
but nothing stops
there is no fixed point
we cannot hold on to any of it
even the present is moving
everything
ever changing
moment
to moment
to moment
the flick of an ear
stretch of a paw
turn of a page
the rise and fall
of my own breath
the sun climbs up through the trees
and the coffee grows cold
these are the most precious things
there is only this
this
moment
to moment
to moment
