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Oh no, I been through this movie before…..

This was the scene when I went to this intersection for a doctor’s appointment at 9:00 AM in Chico. This is what it was like for over a week after the Paradise fire of 2018 burned me out. It does not make for a relaxing morning.

It’s now 11:00 AM and outside my windows, it is dark as a moonless night with a red glow all around.

The smoke and ash flow in from the #BearFire Complex  just west of Oroville and about 25 miles away to the south.

Outside in the parking lot of the apartment complex and all over Chico, a fine grey ash is settling in drifts.

I don’t think I have enough strength or funds to go through all this again.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Jewel September 9, 2020, 11:27 AM

    Well, at least you know what fresh Hell this is.

  • Kevin in PA September 9, 2020, 11:50 AM

    Eerie, creepy….would make me want to pack up and go far away.
    Godspeed, G.

    P.S. I’m certain that the glass is half full …of pee!

  • captflee September 9, 2020, 12:01 PM

    I see that I shall have to up the ante on the quantity/quality of my prayers for your safety and sanity. If nothing else, you’ve given me a rather different appreciation of hurricanes…at least most of the time, and there are a few exceptions, being pelted with stinging rain doesn’t set things alight.

  • Gordon Scott September 9, 2020, 12:02 PM

    I was going to make a joke about considering a move to Colorado. It just wasn’t funny.

    Geez, fire, potential dam collapse, and now fire again. Oh, and sorry, no power for you because Jerry Brown and his dad managed to kill off the reliable sources.

    Aren’t you glad you don’t have to evacuated in a Tesla? Those Tesla roofs aren’t generating much power today, are they?

    Perhaps a message is being sent. I know, I know, California has the wonderful weather, no insects, all that. But you have nothing holding you there anymore.

  • Gordon Scott September 9, 2020, 12:06 PM

    Oh, and fellow readers: If you haven’t hit the PayPal button in a while, this might be a really good time to do so.

  • John Venlet September 9, 2020, 12:09 PM

    Where do you run to if Chico burns, Gerard?

  • PA Cat September 9, 2020, 12:11 PM

    Gerard, I hope you have your bug-out bag and Miss Olive’s carrier ready. And I also hope you’re not being afflicted by rolling blackouts on top of the smoke and ash. Prayers up for you and your Editor.

  • Annie Rose September 9, 2020, 12:16 PM

    I pray that you and all your friends and neighbors will be safe. Our daughter has a college friend living in the area who had to evacuate with her family last week. No word yet whether their home was slated or not. Please take good care.

  • Vanderleun September 9, 2020, 12:26 PM

    “Where do you run to if Chico burns, Gerard?”
    Short answer is west across the central valley and then over the Coast Range to the ocean at Ft. Bragg and steal a boat.

    Long answer is:
    I.
    Don’t
    Know.

    But Olive the Cat goes with me.

    And thank you for all your prayers and good wishes.

    God bless

  • Bill in Tennessee September 9, 2020, 1:06 PM

    Prayers for you, Gerard. Take care out there. I guess sleep right now is hard to come by.

  • Auntie Analogue September 9, 2020, 1:15 PM

    Do you know why God gave us fingernails?

    So we can . . . hang in there!

    In times of turmoil, in times of woes, may God grant you Grace for your soul to repose.

  • Sven September 9, 2020, 1:32 PM

    Gerard,
    My advice, head west across the central valley and then over the Coast Range to the ocean at Ft. Bragg and steal a boat. Also, take a gun. 2020 seems like the end times, and I don’t even believe in the end times. May God bless and keep you.

  • Gordon Scott September 9, 2020, 2:46 PM

    Fort Bragg is totally unacceptable. It was named for an army captain who became a Confederate general. Antifa will come along and pull it down.

  • nunnya bidnez, jr September 9, 2020, 4:12 PM

    you could always move back to Brooklyn;
    rents are cheaper now, and there’s plenty of apartments available.
    Bay Ridge beckons.

  • jwm September 9, 2020, 4:14 PM

    Sven:
    My wife and I are scouting possibilities for a move somewhere near Clearlake, which is not too God-awful far from Chico. There is no quick route to Fort Bragg on the coast, but rather a long drive on a very twisty road. It’s the kind of road trip you’d dream about taking. Running for your life would diminish the fun factor by quite a bit.

    JWM

  • David September 9, 2020, 4:39 PM

    You need some cash, let me know.

  • Motus September 10, 2020, 4:40 AM

    God forbid that the unthinkable happen again, but if it does perhaps you should think about going East, old man. Just not too far east.

    Alternatively we could all chip in and buy an Aleutian island together.

  • rdb September 10, 2020, 6:46 AM

    GVL – our prayers are with you. And if you aren’t spiritual, all the good karma we can muster will be sent to you and the others in harm’s way. Sorry this is happening to you again.

  • MaryAnn September 10, 2020, 7:45 AM

    Don’t know what to say except I’ll be praying all the awful possibilities pass you by.

  • Terry September 10, 2020, 8:22 AM

    My advice: Leave Cali in a NE direction. You will find real Americans. Cali, Nevada, Oregon & Washington St. are totally Communist bastions.

    Leave while you are still able to do so.

    In the short term we wish you the best in the fire storm that is apparently at your door step.

  • gwbnyc September 10, 2020, 9:02 AM

    “The Road”.

  • Jeff Brokaw September 13, 2020, 1:55 PM

    Yikes. Not again.

    That damn climate change!