windfall

 

i didn't mean for the post i did recently regarding the mono wind event to sound like i was bemoaning some tragedy that had befallen us.  i only meant to relate an experience.  if anything, what came down in the mono wind was truly a windfall.

there will be a lot of work cutting up and clearing the fallen trees but we'll be getting a lot out of it...

 

those trees will provide us with firewood that will keep us warm for years.  

photo taken 11/20/2019

since the trees that came down were live we can use some of the wood to grow more shiitake mushrooms.  

a recent flush of our log grown shiitake mushrooms

our local fire safe council has a free chipping program.  they will come out and chip anything up to 3" diameter that is stacked appropriately and readily accessible to their equipment which means all the smaller branches can be made into wood chips and used to grow winecap mushrooms, mulch the gardens, and keep a clean, dry surface in the duck yard (which, after they "fertilize" it, gets composted and goes into the gardens to feed the fruits and vegetables that feed us).

bucket-o-winecaps harvested last september from a crop grown on wood chips that also serve as mulch for the raspberries

wood chips keep a clean, healthy environment in the duck run by catching manure and soaking up the water from all the splashing around the ducks do just being ducks

another benefit of fallen trees is that many of them, although living, were holding a lot of dead, dry wood that made for an inaccessible fire hazard while they were standing.  now that they're on the ground we can clean things up and take some of the fuel out of our immediate area.  

so, i don't see what happened due to the mono wind as a hardship or misfortune in any way.  i think it was a pretty good deal and i'm grateful.

water in the creek

had a slight warm up and probably 48 hours of continuous, light rainfall which melted monday's snow and started the creeks running.  cooled off a bit last night and we woke to another inch of snow (currently melting pretty quickly).  

nice to see some water in the creek

winter has arrived

we've had a long stretch of dry weather and very mild temperatures.  it's been pleasant but we always get a bit anxious when we go a long stretch without getting rain in the winter.  yesterday it clouded up and cooled off considerably.  we got 4-5 inches of snow overnight.  it's finally looking and feeling like winter.

looking wintry

don't think they even noticed

love those branches

"YAY, WINTER!...YAY, SNOW!...YAY, I AM SNOW!...YAAAAY!!!"

garden gate

"blech!  insides me now, human!"

monster oak felled by mono wind of last week

majestic snow creature zane

sweet puppy zane with a "snose"

fig trees

snow party!

more wintry weather to come!

mono wind event

on monday night (the 18th of january) zane got me up around midnight to go out for a pee.  there was a breeze and an eerie howling/roaring/rushing sound in the distance---something tremendous was coming.  we went back to bed and i woke up around 2am to the most incredible wind i have ever experienced.  the house was being buffeted.  i could hear objects being picked up and thrown around.  there was just enough light to see the tree tops twisting around violently.  by 3am the power went out.  the wind continued until about 9am tuesday morning.  

it's called a mono wind event...

(from an informational pamphlet issued by the national parks and national weather service)

"...Mono Winds are strong winds that blow downhill across the western slopes of the central Sierra
Nevada from the northeast. In an ideal atmospheric pattern, air moving from the northeast and flows up
and over the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada. As this air rushes several thousand feet downhill, it
increases in speed and also dries out. The rugged topography of the Sierra Nevada also causes the air
to be funneled through tight spaces which further increases its speed. This results in winds that can
reach speeds of 50 mph or more. Mono Winds form when an area of high pressure sets up over the Great Basin. Air flows in a clockwise direction around high pressure. In some situations, the air is “squeezed” better than others because of the differences in pressure in the atmosphere. The more air is squeezed, the faster it blows. In a typical Mono Wind event, winds reach speeds of at least 50 mph while stronger events can see winds exceed 100 mph!..."

 

we lost several large trees and part of the asphalt roofing on the back of our house.  the garden fence was damaged as well as a few fruit trees.  the power was out for a little over 72 hours...

 

staal, patching the roof in preparation for the soon to come rain and snow

fence on north side of the orchard garden...several fruit trees buried in a tangle of huge oak limbs

broken 4x4 corner post on the southeast side of the orchard garden

this massive oak in front of the house could have taken out our power pole and hit the house but it somehow fell alongside the driveway without even causing any blockage

benji, enjoying a climb on the fallen oak pictured previously

one of several broken and fallen trees around the property

 

we were very fortunate and i'm grateful.  we've repaired the garden fence and the roof and done some chainsawing and cleanup (thank you for the help, mama).  we used our generator to pump water and make light when we needed it.  we were able to go about our daily business without hardship.  some people had large trees fall on their homes and cars.  some people don't have a generator.  some people still do not have electricity.  the county has declared a state of emergency.  

my gratitude to all the people who worked and are still working long, hard hours to clear roads and restore power.

carry me

 

the end of our morning walk

nearing home

he pauses and holds out a paw

(the one he injured the day before)

looking at me a bit helplessly

it's just a scrape

and he's only bumped it

but his expression is so earnestly imploring

it breaks my heart

i ask him if he wants me to carry him

this seems enough to encourage him onward

and he manages without the slightest limp

as we walk i tell him

i would carry you

...forever

and i mean it

he carries me everyday

more effort

a dream

without images

a voice

without origin

saying

only

more effort