The Perfect (Fire) Storm & Comin Up For Air

Ciao a tutti amici,

We are having a very strange summer here with all these fires still burning. We had 6 days of smoke and ash, then 3 days of clear air to breathe, then the wind shifted again and we were back in the smoke cloud for 9 more days. 3 of those 9 days were very windy days filled with sirens and helicopters overhead carrying buckets of water. Most days have been dark and gray and look like winter, except it is hot. The light of the sun has been deep gold to red, there have been no stars and a few nights ago the nearly full moon was a barely visible dark red blotch. The fire burning to the west of me is 85% contained and the fire to the south is 70% contained.
Today we have our first clear day in quite a while. whew!

This horrible fire situation, a whole list of fire "complexes", is being blamed on all natural causes but it is much much more COMPLEX than that. The management of the lands here for generations, since the takeover by non native people, has been one of setting us up for the perfect fire storm. This is a land of fire by natures laws yes. But when fire is suppressed and clear cutting of forests is allowed you end up with the most severe of brush fuels overloads of the type never experienced by nature.

So add up the fuels overloads, the dead trees from herbicides applications, dead trees from sudden oak death, drought and the unusual timing and number of dry storms this year... the temperate rainforests of the northcoast are becoming desert and for now...

Paradise becomes HELL!

Next spring all this fire will be followed by regeneration. I am hoping that we have some good weather cycles to allow that to happen quickly. Regeneration after a fire is amazing! The ash acts like a fertilizer and all the species that have seeds that require fire to sprout go crazy with new growth... love it. hehehe All the wineries here in Norcal are talking about a smoky vintage for this year lol. this is bad to some... and good to others.

I have had headaches, stomach aches, my lungs hurt and my eyes and eyelids are stinging and swollen. But worse of all is I have had no energy and I have been feeling totally uninspired too. I am trying to stay vertical but... sometimes I just have to lay down. Everyone around me has the same symptoms too. But life must go on and I have to stay here for now.

I am working on plans for several dinner parties I will hostess as fund raisers in September and November. The Sights, Sounds and Flavors of Southern Italy. One of the things I have to do first... is grow some of the vegetables I will need. I brought home seeds from Italy and I have some of them started already! I have been searching without any luck so far... for a place to get good and reasonably priced Italian wines. I guess I will want some cheeses too... sheep milk cheeses. I need to go to Little Italy! I found and purchased a 25lb bag of the semolina dura flour for making the pasta... and its even organic, yeah. I'm in pasta making mode, perfecting my techniques and I have been making a good gnocchi too.

I went blackberry picking yesterday and then made my first berry pies of the year. I love to pick berries. And I love to make pies too. They turned out heavenly and I spread them around the neighborhood to some of my friends... my secret to the best berry pie? is the love lol.last piece of Berry Pie

I have been getting a lot of work doing astrological charts, doing a little modeling for the Artists Guild and studying my Italian. Trying to stay busy and productive. Lists and lists. I am good at making lists! I am kind of proud of my follow through with them too hehehe. I can do just about anything with a list. lol lol.

You can even make a miracle happen with a list!

Introducing the newest member of the family
Samwise

He's a beauty and already proving to be a great mouser!
5 kills and he is only 4 months old.

Basta! I send my love to all of you, too bad I cant send you a berry pie too.

On a Clear Day...

With the wind blowing the smoke away from us...

we can breathe much easier!

Ready to Go Now

Ciao a Tutti Amici,

I have posted 2 photo Galleries in my photo bucket. For easier and faster to viewing, click on the link "slideshow" in the upper right corner of the page. This is just a small sample. Otranto and also Salanto. I took thousands of pics and will eventually post another maybe 6 galleries with samples of Lecce, It., 2 of Bari, Basilica of Otranto, Netherlands etc...

Okay.... so I am ready to go now. lol. Run away from the fires that is.

It has been 5 days now that we are living inside the clouds of smoke and ash from the nearby fires. My daughters and I have been suffering many health issues like wheezing, coughing, headaches, sore throat and stinging, tearing eyes. We have an air filter running inside the house that helps a little. But we have to come and go for work and such. Going outside for more than half hour gives me a headaches and eyes streaming. So last night each one of us talked about where we will go... if it gets worse or lasts too much longer.

I got voted... to be the one who stays to hold down the fort.

The fact we have the smoke is actually good. It means the winds are low and the fire fighters are making progress getting control. Seems like it starts to get a little clearer in the afternoon... when the winds pick up. But rather than feel relieved that I can breath again... I worry that the fires are getting stoked up. If a fire gets into heavy fuel (a thick forest that has not burned for more than 25 years) and the winds come up, it can cause a firestorm. I have seen this over and over. Firestorms create their own wind, move very fast and are impossible to contain. Whole towns can get roasted. I went with the Board of Forestry on a field trip to see the results of one of these a couple years ago. A fire in San Diego moved 17 miles in 45 minutes. It burned 3,000 homes and killed 13 people. Two of the fatalities were fire fighters that tried to take a stand against the wall of fire and got trapped in a house.All you can do with a firestorm is run away as fast as you can. The NY Times and Associated Press did and article about the Northern California fires here. here. There are more articles, photos, videos and access to archives relating to the California fires here.

The most disturbing thing about this for me is that it's so early in the fire season and the article says that we may have months of this...

I guess maybe the smart thing to do would be to work up an evacuation plan. Figure out what essentials are needed and what valuables we could move... just in case... the smoke gets thicker, persist too long, the fires get more severe or come closer to us than we feel is safe. This would not be too difficult for me, having lived out of a few suitcases the last 3 months.

Living small like you do when traveling was very good for me. Since getting home I have had the urge to purge myself of nearly all my possessions. I was doing just fine with just a few things lol.

well i better get busy organizing my affairs just in case... love you all and I will be in touch.

Back in the Saddle - I smell Smoke!

Ciao a tutti Amici,

So today I am finally feeling like I am ready to do business.

I have had a really prominent slump. I mostly attribute this to the harsh and extreme experience that is intercontinental air travel. sheeeesh. It is hell... to me. But I feel it is necessary to grow and develop in the direction my heart leads me right now. Anyway... I have had a huge writing block since coming home. Sometimes I start to think that Humboldt-Sohum-Garberville is uninspiring and even debilitating to me... but no. This morning I realized that I am craving exploration. Input of "new" and "different" is required now. So I thought of many places in town I have never been. This mornings walk with Yota was longer and more brisk than ever before. And we "discovered" a few new places we have never been.

So I am inspired again lol.

I also stopped off at the local Hospice and signed up as a volunteer. I intend to slave a little for them and help them to produce an event that is coming up on July 5th. It is their annual fund raiser, but falls the day after a big holiday. So they will need a little extra help to get people out and attending despite their hangovers lol.

Another accomplishment of the morning was finding and installing Microsoft Office X on my computer. Since my update to OS X 10.4.11 right before my excursion abroad, I have not had it. Without Word and it's companions I have had a great excuse for not getting any REAL work done. Now I have it and I am just waiting for an e-mail with the activation code so I can get to work...

Also today for the first time since leaving school in Italy... I studied Italian Grammar again. I study the language every day, usually vocabulary and conversation. I also listen to Italian music, watch Italian tv and talk to myself... alot lol. But studies of Italian Grammar require some serious focus on, to make any progress with.

Also made good progress on my current art piece in the works. I have been painting an ancient Olive Tree. It haunted me for weeks after leaving Italy... so as soon as I could I started it's rendition. I just can't seem to get the right shade of gray-green-blue that I feel is needed...

Oh in case you did not know... the world as we know it here in Southern Humboldt is ablaze.

I have been considering volunteering for the fires. Like helping out in the fire camp or making lunches for the fire fighters. A lightning storm that came through the area a week ago started over 100 fires here in Humboldt County and thousands around the north part of the state. they got half of them out right away, but 50 were in hard to reach places. There are 3 near to our home in Legget Paradise Ridge and Windy Gap. It was very windy yesterday and today the smoke is so thick, the girls and I are dizzy, coughing and our eyes are stinging from the smoke. It looks like a cloudy day today, but it is not. The sun is shining a dark red through the smoke. I looked at the fire report and there are more (5 new, 56 altogether) and bigger fires (double the acrage to 1,500 acres) today than yesterday. The wind is coming up now... and fire season does not usually start here until late August or September. Low relative humidity this year!
This weekend we are supposed to have another lightning storm, like the one last week. oh no!

My daughter Christen and I have an agreement... We take turns cooking so everyone does not have to eat Italian food every day lol lol. She usually makes Asian or Mexican dishes. I have been making pasta and other recipes I collected up in Italy. I ordered 25lbs of the right kind of semolina dura flour from the local health food store yesterday. Last night I made Gnocchi in a Ricotta sauce with greens, walnuts and basil. I was emulating a dish I had in a Bari restaurant the day before I left. Tonight Christen is making beef steak fajitas!Above: Orecchiette Pasta

Now I am going to the farmers market to look for a few choice ingredients for dinner tomorrow night. I got so much done today... when I get home from the market, I will settle down with glass of wine to celebrate a good and productive day.

Back in the saddle again.

My love goes out to all of you.

A Clash of Two American Cultures

Okay so I am admitting it. A weakness.

Culture shock is getting the best of me a little. I came home to a world of chaos, dirt and noise and I am not very happy. I am changing and would like to make a life for myself that is quite different from my past life.

In the past Garberville has been host to an annual Rodeo weekend with a parade and two weeks later we would have the annual biker run weekend. Both of these cultures I find a little interesting and entertaining but unnerving in many ways. Some really smart person or group of people made the rodeo and the biker run happen on the same weekend this year. The weekend I return home from Europe.

A clash of two obnoxious american cultures lol.
The American Biker Culture
I think the bikes are beautiful works of art. But I hate the noise they make. Like thunder on the horizon, but more rhythmic. With hundreds of them running every road in the county it is quite an "effect". My dog cringes the whole weekend shaking and ducking under furniture. The bikers take pride in looking and acting tough. Heavy black leather, shaved heads and tattoos with skulls, dragons and often violent images from head to toe are quite common. Both the men and the women too lol. And when the bikers "run" it usually means a lot of drinking and loud aggressive behavior all around.
The American Rodeo Culture.
The rodeo culture makes it's living from the exploitation of animals damn it. I hate to see the harsh treatment given the bucking animals and the calves for roping. That said I have always loved the rodeo because of those animals. I love seeing the parade with the people and horses dressed up in their finest western regalia. I am one of those people who always roots for the bull during bull riding events lol.

I think I have grown a bit... out of the old life and into the new with less tolerance for loud or aggressive places and people. The weekend is over and the thunder is starting to recede a little now. The bikers have mostly left for home now. My dog can recover now.

Now it's time to get back to the business of making... my life what I want it to be....

Coming Home

I am home.

My return trip started with both Joze and Zeki putting my baggage on their bikes and escorting me to the trolley stop near their house. From there I went on a trolley then a train, plane, tram, plane, BART, taxi, then car. This last portion of my trip was as awesome as any other part. My family and friends have made this a warm and wonderful homecoming for me.

San Francisco is a good airport to come home to. They had an exhibit of beautiful Tibetan Art, wow. I was VERY relieved to see my luggage in the baggage claim area and I was surprised that customs let me keep my olive oil and all the seeds I was bringing in, EVEN the carob pods and seeds!

This oil can was in a suitcase marked fragile and looks like it was
beaten with a hammer. It ended up with just the tiniest leak in one
of the top seams but only a drop leaked out.

I stayed at my friend Kim's apartment in Oakland for a day and was spoiled with a beautiful view, fully stocked kitchen and absolutely the most comfortable bed I had experienced on the entire trip! I felt quite a bit in shock and pain from having to pass through London Heathrow Terminal 5 again, but slept very well.

Then I was picked up for the last leg of my journey by my friend Jama. She treated me to lunch at a nice seafood restaurant in Marin and then she took me grocery shopping at whole foods, clothes and household shopping at the SA Depot in Lytton Springs! Not only did I pick up a few real star pieces of clothing for my wardrobe, I found this print of the Little Angels by Raphael and it's hanging in my living room.



My daughters finished painting the kitchen, cleaned and arranged the house nicely, filled all the vases with flowers and had homemade chicken soup waiting for me when I arrived at home in Garberville.

Sleep. Lots of water. Internet reconnected. More sleep. Jet lag has not been too bad, but I think it will take a few more days for my back to stop hurting.

Io fa la fresca pasta per la mia figlia stasera e... abbiamo mangiato alcuno di migliore olio di oliva. YUM. Felice felice.

Ringraziamento eterno.

Dreaming... A World Without Too Many Cars

Ciao a tutti amici,

When I arrived at the beach, I broke down and cried like a baby.

My friends laughed at me and teased me, but they also hugged me and gave me their love too. The reason for my tears... there are no cars allowed within a long distance of the beach here. No cars, no high rises, only bikes and walking paths. We were on the only beach, a 1 mile stretch, that allows dogs too. And they only allow dogs for 3 months of the year. This is to protect all the wildlife during the breeding season. My friends told me that my reaction to the carless beach gave them a new appreciation for it. They had been taking it for granted.
Below: Parking lot at the beach, bikes only!

I am very sore today but very happy.

Yesterday we went on a very long bike tour. We went to a bird sanctuary first. The sanctuary was closed but when my friends told them I was an environmentalist who works for the endangered species in California. They made an exception for me and gave me a tour of the facilities.

After the tour of the bird sanctuary we went to the beach on the Northsea. After the shock of no cars wore off I went into the water. I was very suprised at how warm the water was here. I expected it to be very cold because we were so far north. But it was much warmer than on the Northern California coast.

In a way... I have regained some hope for humanity here. The people here ride bikes and they are fit and happy. Maybe more people in America can start riding bikes too. If we could achieve that transition... maybe there is hope for the world.

The Dutch People hold the key to survival of the planet... in their pockets with their little bike keys. I just received a request in my e-mail from the bike path advocates in Eureka. They want photos and information about bike paths to help them in their quest to build bike paths around the Humboldt Bay.
What luck... I have some to send to them. Please check out the Trail Trust of Humboldt Bay and contact Jennifer Rice for more information or to help out with this project. jen@nrsrcaa.org.

I leave Europe tomorrow morning to come home to America. I will be in San Francisco by 5pm. Not only carrying the best olive oil and many new skills, but a renewed hope... of a healthy world without too many big cars.

I will miss my new friend Batu (also called: Batuti, Bahhh Tuuu, Tuti Wooti). He was watching me pack my bags today and he was so sad... whining and crying. I had to give him some extra love. We have become very good friends while I have been here. He is part Fell Terrier like Yota and they have some of the same charachter and physical traits.
My love goes out to all of you who have befriended me, rescued me, helped me, housed me, fed me, and taught me many important lessons about language, life, love, culture and about myself too, while I have been here in Europe. I will miss you so much and I will never forget you!

I will be in touch!