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.
Point of comparison – #BearFire of 2020 vs #CampFire 2018.
Absolutely surreal. pic.twitter.com/1VNgmRVtba
— Robert Max Rees, II (@robertmaxrees) September 9, 2020
Gerard Van der Leun
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Well, at least you know what fresh Hell this is.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Where do you run to if Chico burns, Gerard?
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.
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.
“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
Prayers for you, Gerard. Take care out there. I guess sleep right now is hard to come by.
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.
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.
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.
you could always move back to Brooklyn;
rents are cheaper now, and there’s plenty of apartments available.
Bay Ridge beckons.
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
You need some cash, let me know.
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.
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.
Don’t know what to say except I’ll be praying all the awful possibilities pass you by.
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.
“The Road”.
Yikes. Not again.
That damn climate change!