Day 206 of Staying the Fuck Inside
The Glass Fire, which forced us to evacuate (during the pandemic) a week ago, is at 26% containment as of last night.
We returned home yesterday, and had to throw away everything in the fridge, as the power had been out for about 15 hours or so while we were gone. Things were fuzzy and stinky and gross.
Extreme gratitude to extended family (you know who you are) for hosting us for the week. These are difficult times.
Update for this morning – we’re now at 30% containment.Even though we evacuated in 2017 and 2019, this one feels worse. Not sure if it’s because it came right on the heels of the Walbridge Fire, or if it’s because when the Shady Fire portion of this one sprang up, it was much closer to us than we would have liked, or if it’s because we left in the middle of the night, with little prep time, bonus pandemic, or a combination of all of these things.
Regardless, I am emotionally raw this time. I am grateful that the House of Silence still stands on the Borderlands, and I’ve learned even more about geography, terrain, and fire science this year than I ever wanted to know.
Living on the edge of a heavily forested park (and by edge, I mean “across the street”) is sort of a double-edged sword.
On the one hand – lots of trees to burn, within spitting distance from your house!On the other hand – heavily forested park is a major line of defense against fires ripping through your part of town, and having a direct, unimpeded path to the heart of the city. So if it’s threatened, they’re ON it.
Today, we try to pretend things are normal. I’ve found a few charred leaves on our patio that have blown here. Also, it would seem a trash panda (I’m guessing) decided to try to get into the container I use for storing peanuts for the crows. There’s a quarter sized hole and several punctures in the lid. It’s a smaller version of the typical 40 gallon commercial/industrial trash can. That’s some thick, durable plastic, and I’m kind of impressed. We’ll be patching that, and figuring out an alternative at some point.
I also learned a new word – Acedia.
It sums up a lot of things, and has an interesting history behind it.