Syria on the South Coast

War Games are in full swing, and have been for almost 5 hours. Ca-Ching. Each explosion has to cost thousands of dollars and there have been hundreds of them. Most of them don’t shake the walls, although a couple have startled both me and my dogs.

I can’t imagine those many, many places in the Middle East where children grow up with this as a daily event. I am just spoiled, I guess. This would explain the closures. Better the military does this now, rather than toward the end of a very dry summer, when they have started many a fire. I just hope there is a curfew on this puppy, so I am not listening to explosions in my sleep. Would make for interesting dreams.

Road Updates

Training exercises are going on at Ft. Hunter Leggett, so Nacimiento is closed for up to an hour at a time, random days and times, on the East side of Big Sur, where the base and USFS borders join and on the eastern side of the base at Nacimiento and Mission Rd. this is in effect now until March 9th.

On Rocky Creek, overnight closures are complicated, but not total. Sunday, March 3rd thru Wednesday, March 6th, there will be 10 minute closures from 9 pm to 11 pm, then 1/2 hour closures from 11 pm to 7am. Thursday, March 7th there will be a hard closure from 10 pm until 7 am Friday morning.

Okay, got that now?

BTW, some technical difficulties of an unknown source. I am not getting ANY emails on my iPad, from home or abroad. I am still getting them on my iPhone, though. I am having trouble with sundry other apps on my iPad, but not all, and some I can’t get at home, I get while abroad on the coast. More troubleshooting is in order, I guess! If I can’t figure it out, I guess I’ll have to take my iPad in to Verizon or Apple. I love technology!

After a day and a half of that, for some bizzare reason, I am now getting emails on my iPad, again. Who knows what happened?

Missy, the mystery dog, part 4

Finally had the first dog fight. The first time I left Missy home alone, I put her in the bedroom, the two alphas in the living room, and the other two outside, which is the usual. That worked well. The second time I left them home, I let Missy and the alphas, have the run of the house together. That worked, too. The third time I left them at home, I did the same. This time, it didn’t work, so I’ll be separating them, again.

Nothing seemed to have happened while I was gone, but when I got home, to be greeted by three excited dogs, Dakota, the alpha female attacked Missy. It looked and sounded quite serious. I was frantic, trying to break it off, for what seemed like ages, but was only a few seconds. Missy got away, and was running away, with Dakota following. I called Missy back, yelled at Dakota, and Missy came to me to stay by my side. I got her inside separate from Dakota, and checked her all over for blood, bite marks, anything. She was good. Not a mark on her, so Dakota never tried to hurt her, just teach her a lesson. It looked and sounded so very real, I was surprised!

Later, after thoroughly chastising Dakota, I spent time and attention on her, and then time and attention on Missy. Then time and attention on both of them together, as they cautiously eyed each other. But separating them, if I can’t take Missy, will be the way to go. I can meet and greet Gideon and Dakota together – no problems with them – let them out, then meet and greet Missy, and then let her out.

That evening, Missy could not go out to relieve herself, so I resigned myself to having an accident or two to clean up in the morning. Couldn’t be helped, and she is NOT making a habit of it. No “accidents” if she has enough outside time!

That night, all my fur kids settled into their beds or places, and it was peaceful … That was after one of the cats thought it would be fun to tease them. I put the two cats outside, and mixed myself a drink.

Condor Photos by Dave Fauset

Dave Fauset has been working for Winsor on the highway at Partington Ridge. The other day, while working the Highway, he had the wonderful opportunity to see and photograph our Condors.

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Thanks for sharing your photographs, and enjoy your home away from home while you are here!

Guard Dogs and Trespassers

So, President’s Day weekend was busy up here, for both my dogs and I. The road is dismal, so it takes a lot to get up here.

I hadn’t locked the gate, just closed it. It had a BIG no trespassing sign on it. Doesn’t stop some people from opening it, and trying to come on through. Not gunna happen. I’ve got guard dogs. Boy, do I have guard dogs. They don’t usually bite people, but tires, mud flaps, and the like are fair game. If a car gets within sight of the house, they are off, barking, and letting the trespassers know what is what. This is not a place one wants to mess with. And that doesn’t include my Smith and Wesson .357. I don’t need it, with these dogs. Missy is not really part of guard dog duty, yet. She doesn’t bark, but she responds to the others. My blind Alpha Male would take whoever it is on, but I call him back, as well as the new kid on the block, and let my Alpha female and her two pups (now 7) deal with the intruders. They are good at their job.

Dakota is 1/2 healer. The other half appears to be Doberman. She is a good guard dog, and has well trained the one male and one female pups that I kept of her litter. They are a great team.

I just don’t understand what some people think when they come upon a closed gate, with a brand-new No Trespassing sign on it, and decide to open the gate and drive in. What are they thinking? Dumb, really dumb. These idiots tried to drive through twice! What, they thought the guard dogs weren’t real? Even if these idiots COULD get past my dogs, my Jeep Commander blocks the road. Can’t get through … For almost 19 years now.

There was also a large drunken party at Turkey Flats that Saturday night. I didn’t engage – large, drunken party, they tried to challenge me for just driving by … as if THEY owned the road? Not happening. When they left Sunday, they left their campfire burning and tons of trash, which Rock Knocker had to deal with. Really, people? Is it any wonder “The more I get to know some people, the more I like dogs!”?

It is a little early for my summer cynicism to start – my calendar says February. By June, I may be a crotchety ol’ woman on a mountain in Big Sur. my neighbor tries to see them as butterflies, all different, and all fragile and transient. I tend to see them all as puppies, eager, undisciplined, and helpless. I LOVE dogs. Help me love idiots and keep my sense of humor and perspective, my friends!

Sparkling snow

Stunning this morning in the first light of day … Took some photos, and will take some more, but coffee and fire first. Bright sunshine, but quite cold. The whole coast is clear and sparkling! Gorgeous day to wake up in Big Sur – actually, there are no bad days to wake up here!

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Those are photos I took just after the sun came up, before coffee and fire. I have a couple others, taken AFTER coffee #1 and starting my fire for the day. The deck and road are still covered, so I can’t drive, or walk outside much, without fear of slipping – not something I’m anxious to do, even for really good photo ops!

Here are a few I took after coffee.

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That’s my live Xmas tree. Looks right at home, doesn’t it?

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Think I’m going to have to clean off my solar panels, on my solar generator, if I want to recharge today.;-)

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My trusty Jeep Commander

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That’s it for now, ladies and gents. Enjoy this day, and every day.

Snow photos, 2/19/13 – Big Sur

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I have more photos I will continue to try to add. It has been snowing continuously since 2:00 pm, without let-up.

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I’ll take more photos before it gets dark, particularly if it continues to snow, as it has for the last hour and a half. The default will add them below this message.

This is so amazing, after an 80 degree day up here on Sunday!

Weather Report

At 2:00 pm, it started full-on snowing really covering the ground will try to get some photos uploaded, but am having trouble updating the post.

12:45, the front is here. I can see it on the NEXRAD, and hear it in the wind. I’ve tried to upload the NEXRAD shot, to no avail. It shows snow east of Fremont.

10:00 am report – a bit of rain and some slush, so far this am. I’ll post again this afternoon when it starts to snow, as is expected.

Upcoming storm system

This is what is expected for Tuesday, per NOAA:

BY TUESDAY A COLD WEATHER SYSTEM ORIGINATING IN THE GULF OF ALASKA
WILL SPREAD MORE COLD AIR ACROSS THE REGION…AS WELL AS
BENEFICIAL PRECIPITATION. RAIN MAY BEGIN TO FALL ACROSS THE
REGION IN TIME FOR THE TUESDAY MORNING COMMUTE…BUT IT NOW APPEARS
THAT MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL FALL FROM LATE TUESDAY MORNING
THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO
CAUSE FLOODING. MOST AREAS ARE FORECAST TO RECEIVE BETWEEN A TENTH
AND A HALF INCH…EXCEPT IN COASTAL MOUNTAINS WHERE LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE. HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR
IN THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS OF MONTEREY COUNTY.

AS MUCH COLDER AIR ARRIVES WITH THIS SYSTEM…SNOW LEVELS WILL
DROP TO AS LOW AS 2000 FEET BY LATE TUESDAY. LIGHT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS ARE LIKELY AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SAN
FRANCISCO BAY AREA…WITH PERHAPS A FEW INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS THE
HIGHER PEAKS OF THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS AND DIABLO RANGE. FARTHER
SOUTH…SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL PROBABLY BE GREATER WITH UP TO SIX
INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE ABOVE 2500 FEET IN THE SANTA LUCIA RANGE
OF MONTEREY COUNTY AND IN THE LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST. THIS
WILL CREATE HAZARDOUS WINTRY DRIVING CONDITIONS AT THE HIGHEST
ELEVATIONS TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT.

PERSONS WITH OUTDOOR PLANS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS TO ADJUST THEIR PLANS ACCORDINGLY.