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.