Wildfire Update, Plus Cat vs Deer

After over a week of anxiety over whether we were going to have to evacuate our house, it seems the fire danger is over, for us. The blaze closest to us is now pretty much under control, and after attending a community meeting last Sunday evening, where many of the fire coordinators were present, along with local law enforcement and health care monitors, we feel safe enough to bring our furniture and belongings back home. However, fires still burn out of control all around our valley, and we were told at the meeting that we would be dealing with smoke for the rest of the summer. And the smoke is pretty bad, both for us and our horses. We can stay inside, but obviously they can't, so we ride either early in the morning, when the air is cooler and the smoke not quite so bad, or late in the afternoon or early evening, as sometimes a breeze will come up and blow most of the smoke to the west of us.

Here are a few more photos. This level of smoke, more or less, is pretty much it until the first rains in October. The level of nastiness greatly depends on the inversion layer. If we get one, it holds the smoke low and at ground level. If there is no inversion layer, then the smoke stays a little higher. These photos were taken in the afternoon, around 3:00, during a bad inversion layer episode.

 So, in the words of Monty Python, "Now for something completely different."

For years, we have been feeding a little feral cat we named Harp. We originally thought she was a boy, and because of the markings on her face, we called her Harpo. After we discovered she was female, we had to adjust the name. At one time she was tame enough for me to catch, take to the vet and have spayed, and then release. Now, once and a while she will let me pet her, but just, and not always.

She shows up at different times of the day, but usually either early in the morning, or in the evening just before dark. So we always keep an eye out for her, and when we see her, we put her bowl of crunchies out. At night, when she is done, we pick the bowl up and put it in the house so the racoons can't have it. Nasty little things, racoons. Lately we had noticed that Harp was really chowing down a lot of food, more than what her size would warrant. I was a bit suspicious, so this morning, when I saw the doe coming down the hill behind our house, a very intent look on her face, I had a hint of what was coming, so grabbed my camera.

Mom came down the hill and intimidated Harp into leaving the bowl, then proceeded to snarf down the food. I could hear her crunching away with gusto. I guess I will have to put out more "cat" food, so both Harp and Mom can have enough crunchies to share. (It was a low-smoke morning, so the photos came out nice and clear. By the time I was done writing this, the smoke had moved in again)

Harp enjoying her breakfast.

Momma deer approaches.

Momma deer pushes Harp away from bowl and digs in.

Lots of crunching noises ensue.

 

And this is why mom needed the extra protein.

 

Baby gets a snack. Snacking can be rough on mom.

 

Mom and baby stroll off.

 

After they had gone, I put more food out for Harp, and she came back and finished her breakfast.  

BTW, not sure why Mr. Blogger decided all of a sudden that the text should be centered, and no matter what I do, Mr. Blogger won't change back to left-side orientation. Ah well. 

So, that was my little wildlife encounter of the day. Made me smile. Smiles are always a good thing.

Wildfires!

Living in a forested area is lovely, until your worst nightmare comes true. Wildfires. Fires close enough to be a threat to your house and animals. That's the high-anxiety threat we have been living under since last Friday, when a thunder storm rolled in Thursday night with no rain, but lots of lightning strikes all across Southern Oregon.

The scattering of fires, burning out of control, are being lumped into the title Douglass County Complex, and several of them are burning within 15-25 miles of our house. If the wind shifts, or the fire changes direction, we might have to evacuate. If they tell us to get out, what we can take will depend on how much time we have. Suddenly we'll be facing a hard reality. What will we attempt to save, and what will we be forced to leave behind? Those are decisions we hope we won't have to make, but the possibility that we might have to is a real one.

Our safety and that of our animals is a priority. After that...what? Our personal papers are in a safe deposit box, so those aren't an issue. Here is my mental list of things I will grab: Our two computers, because they hold thousands of photos, and all of my manuscripts; my jewelry box of good stuff including things belonging to my grandmothers; the silver teapot my dad bought for my mom back in the 70s and that she has given to me; a Brown Betty teapot that my grandfather bought in England during WWI and brought back for my grandmother; my collection of Dorothy Dunnett books which are out of print and one is signed. After that, depending on time and space in the trucks, two pieces of furniture: an antique dressing table my grandmother gave me when I turned sixteen, and a Victorian library table that belonged to my aunt who was murdered in her house back in the 80s. Then clothes, and whatever else we can throw in the trucks or the tack room in the horse trailer. 

As the days go on, we monitor the Forestry reports, check web sites for updates, and keep fingers and toes crossed. In the meantime, ash falls on everything, smoke makes the air hard to breath and burns the eyes, and bombers (so far, one DC10, two DC4s, and a twin engine) full of fire retardant and helicopters dragging water buckets fly right over our house.

Here are a few photos. I started taking them Friday morning, when the smoke wasn't too bad, but things got slowly worse as time when on. Today the smoke is horrible and has engulfed the whole Rogue Valley, causing the EPA to issue a hazardous air quality warning.

The red stain on the bottom of the bomber is from the fire retardant. 

Our two horses, trying to figure out where the smoke is coming from. They are wearing fly masks, to keep flies out of their eyes and ears. They can see through them just fine. It also keeps the falling ash out of their eyes - a use I doubt the manufactures originally had in mind, but they work. 

Helicopter taking the empty water bucket back for a refill. 

Bomber flying through the smoke. The photo is blurry, as Robert grabbed the camera and took the picture as quick as he could, because the bombers were traveling really fast.

Smoke curling through the valley. By Sunday afternoon, it looked like a volcano had erupted behind our house, the smoke was so dark and thick.

 

 Because of the heavy smoke, everything is cast in an eery orange light, as if you were looking at the world through a tinted window.

Robert, last evening, out on our deck, reading the reports of the fire in the local paper. It's really no fun when you have to pick pine ashes out of your wine. At least they can't get into his beer can.

These fires are still out of control, with no way for us to know which way they may travel. So we stay on alert, and if things start looking grim for us, we'll start packing whatever we can, load our horses, grab our two cats, and we'll GO!