In the Dark Again

Here’s OilMan reading by the light of his headlamp and our blow-up solar powered lanterns. There is a whole new sort of etiquette to be learned while using headlamps and flashlights to avoid blinding one’s companions.

It was warm enough to lie on a chaise lounge in the garden and look at the stars which were twinkling and numerous in the pitch darkness last night before going to bed early again.
We slept fitfully as the wind picked up and we found ourselves reliving the exact same conditions that precipitated the terrible fires here two years ago.

I was awakened by a text message from my brother in Fallbrook telling us that the Kinkaid fire was burning out of control in the mountains above Geyserville. These are the same mountains that run behind our house but about 15 miles north of here. Once the power goes out here we are truly living in blackout conditions. Ironic that I find out about a fire burning 15 miles away from my brother who lives hundreds of miles away at the bottom of the state.

We must live under the flight path of the tankers carrying fire retardant from McClelland AFB in Sacramento, for they have been flying over our house all day. No definitive word on whether this fire started in an area where the power was turned off. If it was, it will just be proof that there are other things that start fires...like generators and candles and all the other things people are using to get by without power. But PG&E will be able to claim that it wasn’t their equipment....

I went down the street to check on our elderly neighbors (he is in a wheelchair) and just as I got home a plane flew over Spring Lake and dropped a load of fire retardant. That turned out to be a small fire which they hit with everything they had, and was soon extinguished....but it certainly didn’t do much for our frayed nerves....

October is turning out to be a month I used to quite like, but now would like to omit from the calendar....more high winds are predicted for Saturday through Monday. It isn’t clear whether we will get our power back on at least for a day to recharge and refreeze everything before they turn it off again

I’m writing this on my phone which is our only internet connection .And it is very slow
So forgive me if comments are sparse....