Think

 

"Only you can prevent Wildfires."

~Smokey The Bear

Past Autumns

 "Keep your face towards the sunshine,

 and the shadows will fall behind you."

~Walt Whitman

One of the things I love most about autumn and winter... shadows. The past few autumns have had that eerie glow from the Northern California wildfires. Hopefully the ones plaguing us this year will be extinguished soon. Unlike the previous years, this year's fires are moving east, toward the Lake Tahoe basin, and so far there aren't any in Napa County. Keeping my fingers crossed that some cooler weather will start soon, that always goes a long way to successfully moving past the most dangerous part of "fire season".

 

~Me

Stockton, California

August 28th 2021

 

It Was August Two Weeks Gone

 

"The grass in the back field was almost waist high, and now there was goldenrod, that late summer gossip which comes to tattle on autumn every year. But there was no autumn in the air today; the sun was still all August, although calendar August was almost two weeks gone."

~Stephen King

Pet Cemetery

Of all the authors who have ever lived, I think Stephen King might understand autumn more completely than any than any other I can think of. The way it tastes, the way it has a way of stealing your last breath with it's beauty, and the way it can scare you. I photographed those beautiful ducks on September 11th, with the air so full of smoke that had drifted from the many wildfires, I could barely breathe, but there were those gorgeous creatures, minding their own business, without any real cares. I had a nice time with them. I knew things would improve, and they have, considerably, but this weekend is supposed to see higher temperatures, and winds, as it does in autumn, which is bringing renewed worries of more fires erupting.

 Fire season doesn't end now until December, ten years ago it was late October. The Earth is pissed, and frankly, so am I. I am sick of Republicans pretending Climate Change isn't real, but what can I do when a good part of the voting block would rather clutch their pearls over the irrational fear of losing their guns, then care the Earth is dying. All I, as one person, can do, is keep separating my plastic and aluminum, cut plastic can separators, and throw away as little trash as possible whenever possible, but I'll keep praying for the birds, butterflies, and the vegetation in California. In another decade, should we last that long, it's possible to see fire season not have a begin or end date, it will just be a constant threat. Autumn won't just be scary, for the chills of Halloween and the fun of being scared for the fun of it, it will be scary because it won't actually exist anymore.

~Carly

September 26th 2020

Stockton, California

Fire Light

"There is a season for everything under the sun... 

even when we can't see the sun."

~Jared Brock

A Year Of Living Prayerfully: How A Curious Traveler Met The Pope, Walked On Coals,

 Danced With Rabbis and Revived His Prayer Life

The Santa Ana winds are officially blowing. The smoke from the fires surrounding the Central Valley are making conditions worse than they were a few weeks ago. I can't believe what I am seeing. That (pic above) was the sky yesterday, and by 6:00 pm, I couldn't even find the sun. It was lost behind the smoke. I saw some photos of San Francisco, and everything was lost under an apocalyptic red glow. I never saw the Golden Gate Bridge look like that. It hurts my feelings, and leaves me feeling even more lonely for my beautiful bridge.

 On the TV, the story of the day revolved around the revelation that Donald John Trump is a damn liar. Big surprise... right? But specifically, he lied about how dangerous the Covid-19 Pandemic was. As I told Alan, I am thankful that I never listened to him to begin with. Rachel Maddow was the first to bring us the information about the virus, and her coverage, once again, was concise and accurate. We are lucky that we had her to count on, because if we were left to our own government, we would probably all be dead or dying.

At least we are not all completely alone in this. 

We have someone we can count on.

I am planning to do some photography on Friday. I am not completely sure about the destination, but I am hoping to visit at least the East Bay. I have a mammography planned for the early morning, then it's off on a photo adventure. Hopefully Berkeley will be possible, but we will have to see how the smoke is by then. With a huge amount of luck, San Francisco could be another destination. Personally, I will be happy with the East Bay. Vacation begins in less than a month. With it being so close, I am happy to just wait and have it be really special. Maybe by then there will be a real season outside. Summer ends in about 10 days, and I will be grateful when it does, but the next 8 weeks or so are the height of fire season, and when the Santa Ana's are at their worst.

Life is a lot of things... boring is not one of them.

~Carly
Stockton, California
September 10th, 2020