Day: September 5, 2012

Vandalism on the South Coast

It is hard to fathom what kind of mentality finds it necessary to deface our beautiful coast, but there are those for whom the natural beauty of this place is not sacred.This type of person, and thankfully there are few, must create what can only be considered an abomination – an affront to Our Mother and her spectacular beauty.

Wally Barnick of Coast Ridge Outfitters, Big Sur (next to Fernwood) sent me this photo yesterday.

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So, I contacted the new supervisor of Willow Springs, Greg DeAlba, (look for a profile of our new supervisor in the next few days), and asked him about Cal Trans plans for dealing with this vandalism on their retaining wall. He informed me there was currently a discussion going on about painting or staining this wall so that it blended in with it’s surroundings. He said he would keep me informed about the outcome of this discussion, and I will be following up to make sure this shameful affront to our coast is eradicated as soon as possible.

Today, I got to witness this for myself. I am befuddled by the idea that anyone could be so insensitive to the remarkable beauty of this place to do something like this. What will it take for all our visitors to be respectful of this place we call home and which we share with MILLIONS of visitors every year? What will it take?

Fire Weather

5:00 pm – red flag warning in effect throughout the evening in the Monterey NWS area. While I can see build up of clouds to the north and to the east, I have sunshine and no thunder here. Even my dog Dakota’s keen hearing is picking up nothing. She ALWAYS hears it long before me, and tries to crawl under whatever she can. My other three are not bothered, so I always keep an eye on her whenever there is a chance of lightning, no matter how remote.

8:30 am – This afternoon through tomorrow, very unstable weather, with possibility of lightning strikes. Wet or dry strikes (and models are unclear if the rain will hit the ground, but San Jose already experiencing rain this morning) brings serious threats of fire starts in Monterey County and the greater Bay area, even if rain accompanies the strikes, as fuel levels are extremely dry.

So keep an eye out, report any down strikes you see on land, if possible. I have to do a quick yo-yo south, but will be watching this closely through tomorrow.