Some of my favorite trees, the ones that “save me (and daily).” Thanks to Mary Oliver for that beautiful line from her poem “When I Am Among the Trees.” Fires around our region are still burning, and also (ironically) it is time to start making preparations for the delivery of this winter’s firewood. Fires destroy; fires save. It’s a lot to think about.
It is a little breezy today, which in the olden, golden days made me happy, because a little breeze was cheerful (Remember that “Summer Breeze” song by Seals and Croft? You can listen to it again here: Summer Breeze ), but today, the breeze is making me nervous, because of the fires. Hard to believe it was just a few years ago that the weather basically seemed sane, predictable. Do you remember those days, like ten years ago? We knew when it would snow, when it would rain, when it would be hot. We had the luxury of not thinking much about climate change. There were a few fires, a few hurricanes, a few floods, but not everyday. Sure, there were occasional news stories about global warming, but it was mostly a theoretical possibility that scientists and a few politicians talked about, not one that affected our daily lives.
That sure has changed. And so quickly.
The Caldor Fire, which I have written about every week for the last few weeks, has now gobbled more than 210,000 acres. (The first time I mentioned it here? The first time it alarmed me? It was at 6500 acres or so) Apparently, firefighters have shifted their priorities, and instead of trying to put out the fire, have decided to try and direct it. Right now, they are coaxing it away from the Lake Tahoe Basin. So far, they have been successful, but not before the entire city of South Lake Tahoe was placed under a mandatory evacuation order, which caused a six mile traffic jam that lasted for hours. For awhile there, it wasn’t looking good.
Normally on Labor Day weekend, Tahoe would be packed with tourists. Not this weekend. This weekend, it is a ghost town.
Outside of Tahoe and the fire zone where tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders, life is going along, mostly normally. We are living our lives, though we check the local news station every few hours for fire updates, and check even more frequently when we see planes overhead, praying they are not spotter planes. We leave our phones on at night, just in case a fire pops up and there is a sudden mandatory evacuation order. But along with this, we are trying to get outside chores done before the weather changes, because the weather will change, right? Sometime?
