Month: November 2008

Hermitage Art Show

Watch for the possibility of rain. I don’t see any warnings, or concerns. 

“Tonight: A chance of rain before 6pm, then a chance of showers, mainly before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. North northwest wind between 13 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.”

Also a reminder that tonight the Hermitage is having an art show to help raise money lost during weeks of evacuation for both the Basin and Chalk Fires. If you cannot go, you can still support the Hermitage by visiting their online store, for incredible artwork, fruit and date cakes, mugs, and many other things. I personally can attest to their sumptuous date cakes, and their fruit cakes are world famous! 

go to: the hermitage http://www.hermitagebigsur.com  and visit their online store.

Morning Report, 11/7/08

Until the rains begin again, I will probably not be posting, much, unless I have something to say. (I’m a lawyer. I always have something to say!) But this morning, I see smoke-like haze to the north, and out over the ocean. Looks quite a ways away, but I have no information, and darn, I don’t like not having any information. Anyone out there know anything?

This comment from Firefox: “The haze may be from the controlled burn that State Parks is conducting in Andrew Molera State Park. There was a distinct scent of smoke this am in the area around Pfieffer Ridge.  They are burning off some of the brush that has taken over large sections of the park.

They expect to continue on different plots in the park for a few days. Let people know to NOT call 911 when they see smoke or flames in the area but they can contact State Parks or read the posted notices at the Big Sur Center Deli, River Inn Store or MAF if they want more info.

Firefox”

Also, I would just like to add to the explanation about how control burns add nutrients to the soil, that there are a number of native plants that can ONLY be germinated by fire. That is why CNPS people love to come hunting for new finds in the spring, after a fire. Never know what new plants, or rare plants will be discovered!

Fall

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The chilly mornings of November are here — the times of hot cocoa and soup at night, and that first steaming cup of coffee in the morning. I’ve always loved Fall. But then I love Winter, Spring, and Summer, too. Each season casts its spell on me. Each has its own brand of special.

Fall can bring crisp, cold mornings, and sunny, warm afternoons. The leaves are turning and falling. My blessed Valley Oaks (Qercus lobatas) begin their winter hibernation, opening up their canopies so that the sun seeks the ground. The sun is lower in the southern sky as we rapidly approach the shortest day of the year.

Between now and December 21, 2008, I watch the daylight hours become shorter, so that the day seems over before it has begun. I watch the dogs fluff out with their winter coats. I enjoy the snuggling in the warmth of my down comforter, recently revamped with a new duvet cover.

This Fall, I will be staying closer to the home front, and probably only seeing my North Coast friends at Thanksgiving. The highway is too “iffy” this year. I am used to rock slides, mud, and changing conditions on Highway One. But this year is different. Too many variables, and some of them not even that variable. 

We know the highway will close – probably several times in several places. I need to winterize my Jeep — you know, put a sleeping bag, a pillow, flashlight and emergency supplies in it. I need to be able to spend the night in it, if called upon to do so.

Fall: it is the time I finish my preparations for winter, and I have little time in which to complete them. Living close to nature like this is not like living in town. The seasons carry their messages much louder and clearer for us, here in the wilderness.

Yes, Fall. I am listening.

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Also, Charles Bell of the NWS in Monterey is asking for our participation in the  Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is now in California! This volunteer-driven program will allow people the chance to enter precipitation data on a daily basis and have the information immediately displayed on a web site (http://www.cocorahs.org/State.aspx?state=CA).

It requires a special 4″ rain gauge and training. The program is explained at the link above. Happy reporting, everyone!!

Shoring up the homefront

After the elections, and after the floods, I looked back, and realized I had not posted any photos. Debbie sent me these. They were taken yesterday.

After the flood – clean-up and preparation at Debbie’s house. More great work by Blaze!

dscn0354These sandbags go all around the front and side of the house. I don’t know about the back.

dscn03551Sandbagging the house

dscn0349Setting up the berms

“Yes, we can!”

Amen. We are all lucky to be living in this momentous time. I am again proud to be an American!

I was born and raised in California, and had little exposure to racism during my life. I was raised by a wonderful woman who was a Democrat in every way. But in 1967, my experiences changed. I joined the Women’s Army Corps and flew to Ft. McClellan, Alabama. When I was finally granted leave, and could leave the base after Basic Training, I went into town and was shocked to find (still) whites only bathrooms, and drinking fountains, and so many other forms of racial discrimination practiced. 

In my relatively short  life, I have been privileged to watch a remarkable change come upon this nation. We still have a long way to go. California, a “blue” or liberal state, enacted discrimination and hate, with the passage of Proposition 8. At least my county voted it down. I know how it happened. Some voters were confused. In voting “Yes” on Prop 8, they thought they were insuring gays the right to wed, when just the opposite was true. I spoke with one who did that.

Yes, change is a’comin’ as Dylan has sang, but more change is needed. I want to see tolerance, love, and hope as the norm, and bigotry, hatred, and fear as the abherration it truly is. I want to see our views expand so that we are all world citizens, not just citizens of our small little place in it. I want to see us transform ourselves into the incredible beings of which we are capable. 

I am very hopeful. I do not expect Obama to work miracles, other than the one he already worked. He is inheriting a real mess in so many ways, and I am clearly not hopeful that one man can undo decades of bad decisions, especially in eight years. 

Nonetheless, I am hopeful because I see that the American people, the majority of them, anyway, have finally come awake. I am hopeful because so many who haven’t bothered to vote, are now doing so. I am hopeful because our young are interested and involved again. 

That gives me hope more than the man we elected. He is human, and will not be able to accomplish everything. But he has started to divert this train-wreck we call government back toward where it began — a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

 

Free weed-free straw bales

11/4/08 11 AM

Hi Kate,

Can you post this on your list serve? [blog]

Thanks!

The Monterey Fire Safe Council and the Big Sur Land Trust have rounded up about 500 FREE weed-free rice straw bales. They are currently staged at Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s barn.  They are available to anyone who wants them but the logistics need to be worked out. I am trying to get the word out to people to see who needs them and also who can help get them down into Big Sur.

We need people with large trucks to bring a load of them down here.

We need somewhere where people who need them can pick them up and where they will stay out of the rain.

Please contact me if you need straw bales and/or can help organize storing or getting the straw bales down to Big Sur.

 

Kerri Frangioso

831-620-1098

Cell 831.402-7825

Election Day

Rainfall totals: Storm, .6; Season, 3.6

Today will be one historical day for this nation. With the whole world watching, I am confident we will do the right thing, and our next President will be Barak Obama. 

I’ll be taking the day off from blogging so that I can catch up on work, in between watching exit polls and the electoral votes mounting up for the candidates. The highest voter turn-out in American political history is expected today. That, in itself, is a reason to celebrate. The vast majority of us are excited about the change that is coming. Others are afraid. Change always brings fear, it seems. To me, it means this nation has come to its collective senses, after 8 long years of political hell.

Gather around your favorite news source, or gather together in local pubs and hang-outs, and enjoy this defining moment in our national history.

From the Associated Press:

Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on.

Democrat Obama defeated Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch, where a loud whoop accompanied the announcement in Tuesday’s first minutes. The town of Hart’s Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul. Independent Ralph Nader was on both towns’ ballots but got no votes.

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t surprised,” said Obama supporter Tanner Nelson Tillotson, whose name was drawn from a bowl to make him Dixville Notch’s first voter.

With 115 residents between them, Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location get every eligible voter to the polls beginning at midnight on Election Day. Between them, the towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948.

Being first means something to residents of the Granite State, home of the nation’s earliest presidential primary and the central focus — however briefly — of the vote-watching nation’s attention every four years.

Town Clerk Rick Erwin said Dixville Notch is proud of its tradition, but added, “The most important thing is that we exemplify a 100 percent vote.”

If only the rest of the nation could get 100% voter turn out. Perhaps we need to do as Australian does, and make it a crime not to vote!

Flash Flood Warning!

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
622 PM PST MON NOV 3 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS
ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR FLASH FLOODING AND POSSIBLE MUD AND DEBRIS
FLOWS FOR PART OF THE BASINS BURN AREA IN MONTEREY COUNTY. LOCATIONS
INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BIG SUR VILLAGE AND THE VENTANA CREEK
AREA.

* UNTIL 645 PM PST

* AT 607 PM PST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF USGS MUD AND DEBRIS FLOW THRESHOLDS WERE
MOVING THROUGH THE WARNED AREA. 

RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS IN AND BELOW RECENTLY BURNED AREAS SHOULD BE
ALERT TO HEAVY MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS WHICH MAY BLOCK ROADS AND
CULVERTS.

TIME...MOT...LOC 0219Z 180DEG 0KT 3629 12172

Storm Watch, 11/3/08

6:00 PM – NOAA rain forecast for 4 pm – 10 pm has increased from .38 to .45. I cannot see my rain gauge well enough from inside with my flashlight to be able to report with any accuracy what we’ve gotten in the last 1 and 1/2 hours, but based on what I hear, I would be surprised if it was more than .10. Sorry, I just don’t want to go out in the rain in my warm pjs, unless I hear real pounding! It is COLD up here!

4:30 PM – (.10 for storm; 3.0″ for season)

Had to run to Cambria. On the way home, about an hour ago, it started a steady, but light rain. Rain for this storm is now up to .10 up here at about 3200′. Interestingly, Mining Ridge is reporting .12 inches, but very few other places are reporting rain, other than Jim in San Jose, that is.

Debbie is staying at Rose’s on VERY high ground tonight, thank goodness! Have some additional photos from Debbie about “Blaze to the rescue” which I will try to get a couple up, once I get a few things done in the “real” world, like groceries put away, dogs fed, into my comfy ranch clothes … you know, the usual important things in life!

Flooding Photos

TODAY”S FORECAST: NOAA is predicting .38 inch of rain between 4 pm and 10 pm today for the Big Sur area. See 2008 Winter Conditions to the right for the new NOAA forecast map, just sent by Charles Bell of NWS in Monterey.

These photos of the Grange and Debbie’s house and yard were sent to me this morning. What a mess, huh?

Read Debbie’s Story under Storm Watch, 11/2/08, below, or click on post to the right.

The Grange and Parking Lot

Debbie’s Yard. This was a garden that was on the Hidden Valley Garden Tour. Under all that mud is a lawn, now buried.

Debbie’s Porch and Front Door

This is what Debbie came home to, after fleeing to Glen Oaks Saturday night. Sunday morning, Don Case brought her the Sunday paper, and offered his help. This, the man in the photo with Buddha, who lost everything in the Basin Fire. Don, if you read this, you epitomize the Big Sur Spirit!

Oh, Debbie! Thank you so much for sharing your story and your photographs. They are both just so heart-wrenching. I look at these, and remember all the wonderful 4th of July parties we had out here in this garden, in the sun belt! I’ll have to locate one of my photos from then (on the other computer?) and post so people can see how beautiful it is, when not covered in mud!

And here is later in the day: “Blaze to the Rescue!”

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