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Weekend Update Has Had a Hell of a Week
Oct. 14th, 2017 09:04 amIf you haven't heard by now, a huge swath of the North Bay here in Northern California is battling wildfires that started very late on Sunday night. Still no concrete cause found as of yet, as trying to stop the fires from eliminating a number of towns is of more importance right now. The thing that's getting me -- well, one of them, anyway -- is that I'm familiar with a lot of these places that are now being burned. We don't go up to the North Bay all that much, but we're very familiar with Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Napa, Calistoga, those towns big and small. There are a lot of small micro-communities up there in between the slightly larger towns, a lot of wineries and businesses that are under threat, or are already destroyed.
We'd been woken around midnight or so by one hell of a strong wind gust that kept pushing the door against the frame and waking me up. But minutes later we could smell really strong smoke. It had happened before, with other wildfires in the area in past years, but never to this extent. It was strong enough that we thought it was local, that somewhere in our own neighborhood was on fire. [That's when I checked my Twitter feed and found out what was actually going on.]
The thing that brought it home to me was Monday morning, when I woke up to use the small bathroom, and saw ash on the white tile floor that had fallen through the skylight. Bits of plant matter, unidentifiable material, an insect wing.
There was also ash on our rear window sills. We keep our bedroom windows open a crack when it's warmish just so we can keep the air fresh. There was also a swath of ash in the front of our building, where dust and small bits of trash tend to collect from the wind sometimes. And the back hall to the garage, where the back door has a gap at the bottom, was full of ash as well.
We've had the windows closed all week, and we've rarely stepped outside. The air is breathable out there now, much more than it was earlier this week, but it kind of feels like I've walked into an extremely dusty concrete garage that's just been swept. It's not stifling, but it leaves a chalky feel in the mouth and throat. The entire Bay Area has put out air quality warnings, suggesting that people stay inside if they can. We're both feeling some cabin fever something fierce, so we're breaking our self-imposed bunkering by going to see a few movies this weekend. We're hoping we can go to the gym again soon as well.
We're doing okay; maybe a bit congested because of the bad air, but otherwise okay. A's parents up in Petaluma, just west and south of the conflagrations, are doing okay as well.
The fascinating thing is that despite all of this, my neighborhood is still vibrant and not a ghost town. I've had to do some errands outside and still saw a lot of the locals walking around. The stores are open and people are doing their shopping and visiting and chatting, despite the bad air and the horrible news. This is what community's all about, and I love that.
And yes, I am in fact pissed off that the Fuckwit has not said one goddamn thing about it. Hell, I'd take the vapid 'thoughts and prayers' at this point, but he hasn't even acknowledged that it's happening.
We'd been woken around midnight or so by one hell of a strong wind gust that kept pushing the door against the frame and waking me up. But minutes later we could smell really strong smoke. It had happened before, with other wildfires in the area in past years, but never to this extent. It was strong enough that we thought it was local, that somewhere in our own neighborhood was on fire. [That's when I checked my Twitter feed and found out what was actually going on.]
The thing that brought it home to me was Monday morning, when I woke up to use the small bathroom, and saw ash on the white tile floor that had fallen through the skylight. Bits of plant matter, unidentifiable material, an insect wing.
There was also ash on our rear window sills. We keep our bedroom windows open a crack when it's warmish just so we can keep the air fresh. There was also a swath of ash in the front of our building, where dust and small bits of trash tend to collect from the wind sometimes. And the back hall to the garage, where the back door has a gap at the bottom, was full of ash as well.
We've had the windows closed all week, and we've rarely stepped outside. The air is breathable out there now, much more than it was earlier this week, but it kind of feels like I've walked into an extremely dusty concrete garage that's just been swept. It's not stifling, but it leaves a chalky feel in the mouth and throat. The entire Bay Area has put out air quality warnings, suggesting that people stay inside if they can. We're both feeling some cabin fever something fierce, so we're breaking our self-imposed bunkering by going to see a few movies this weekend. We're hoping we can go to the gym again soon as well.
We're doing okay; maybe a bit congested because of the bad air, but otherwise okay. A's parents up in Petaluma, just west and south of the conflagrations, are doing okay as well.
The fascinating thing is that despite all of this, my neighborhood is still vibrant and not a ghost town. I've had to do some errands outside and still saw a lot of the locals walking around. The stores are open and people are doing their shopping and visiting and chatting, despite the bad air and the horrible news. This is what community's all about, and I love that.
And yes, I am in fact pissed off that the Fuckwit has not said one goddamn thing about it. Hell, I'd take the vapid 'thoughts and prayers' at this point, but he hasn't even acknowledged that it's happening.
