Medicine Lake Weekend

I’m back in Jamestown today, after a very fast weekend camping at Medicine Lake. Seems a bit silly, I guess, to drive 380 miles each way for 2 nights of camping, but I somehow hoped that I could get a break from heat and smoke. I at least got out of the heat, but not the smoke. The drive north was mind boggling. It’s amazing to drive hundreds of miles through smoke that is as thick as the famous pea soup tule fogs of winter. Well, maybe not that bad, really, I didn’t have to hang my head out the open car door to see the white line, but the visibility was down to ¼ mile in lots of areas, and never more than a mile or so at best. All the way up I-5, from Stockton to Mt Shasta and beyond.

The fires have dissipated somewhat, and yesterday as I was driving home there was a big Delta breeze cleaning out the valley. It was also an incredible experience, driving through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys on I-5 with crystal clear views of the western coast range. Truly lovely, as long as I didn’t look east. The Sierras were covered by a thick dark gray blanket of smoke. Like a big wall against the sky, and yet I was in a valley more clear than I have seen it almost since I lived here. Found out when I got home that the smoke was from a huge fire that blew up just south of me here on the Tuolumne-Mariposa county line, on the Merced River canyon. What started as a 150 acre vegetation fire caused by someone target shooting blew up almost overnight and now it’s 26,000 acres and zero percent contained. The smoke in Sonora and Jamestown is again barely tolerable. Inside with the air conditioning going again is the only survival mechanism.

But for one full day, with two half days on either end, I got to sit and look out over a sweet little lake. I had bbq’d steaks and salmon, potatoes O’Brien cooked over the campfire for breakfast, quiet times watching the twilight come slowly, even though the stars never really materialized because of the smoke. It was a first for Medicine Lake. Every other time we have been there, 3 previous times actually, the air has been crystalline, pure, and often cold. We found the perfect camping spot, one more time on the lake, in the perfect campground with stone fire pits and unobstructed views of the water.

Was it worth it? It was windy a lot this time, so time in my boat was also limited, but precious. Perfectly clear water, where I could see 30 feet down to the lava rocks on the bottom. The lake was down a bit, fed by snow melt and springs, and yet lower than I have seen it before. But yes, it was worth it. Time with Mo, time where work problems aren’t foremost in my thoughts, time to knit a bit and read a bit and walk a bit and boat a bit. Time for all that easy nothing kind of conversation that friends have when things are simple. It was worth it.

I am having such a hard time lately, harder than it’s been for awhile, with working and waiting and feeling as though time is crawling along even though it’s going fast overall, sometimes the everyday stuff just seems so tedious. The hot smoky weather here makes working outside barely tolerable, actually not tolerable at all, and I am having an incredibly hard time staying focused and doing what I need to do when it comes to mapping. Employee issues surely don’t help, and hopefully those will be resolved before long as well. Big sigh there. It’s wearing me out.

In the mean time…well, that’s a book, isn’t it?! I have it somewhere on the bookshelves, “In the Mean Time”. The lesson being that we need to do something ‘in the mean time’ while we are waiting for that time to come. Deb gives me lectures on “the secret” thinking positively to attract what I want. Deanna reminds me of “affirmations” to think positively about what I want. For the moment, I am in the mean time, however, and am having a bit of a hard time reminding myself of all those spiritual lessons that I once seemed to know really. Appreciate the moment, live in the now, use the gratitude journal. I’m working on it, in the mean time, I’m feeling frustrated with having to be here, having to keep living in this place, doing work that my body is tired of doing, and my mind is overloaded and burned out doing.

So, instead, I get though the days, and drive nearly 800 miles on a 3 day weekend to feel human, and breathe some mountain air, and drive on roads that don’t have bumper to bumper cars all in a huge angry rush. It was amazing driving 33 miles on a paved road from HWY 89 to the lake and only seeing two other cars. Blessed empty roads, one of my favorite things, and something that eludes me totally here in this part of California.

So, now, back to work today, and tomorrow, and another few days, and then I’ll be leaving for a 10 day vacation to Spokane with Mo. So, in the mean time, I am going to pay attention to the present moment, work, write, and live my day to day life with as much presence as I can muster.

Fourth of July

Fourth of July. I don't consider myself a particularly patriotic person in the general sense of the word. I love my country, more for it's landscapes and variety than anything else. I don't fly the American flag because it's use has been usurped by the hard right wing, sadly I think. I don't want to proclaim my love for wars and guns by flying it. Although I can remember in 6th grade and 12 years old, standing with my hand over my heart and crying when they played the Star Spangled Banner every day at my school.

But I love the Fourth of July. It somehow represents all the good things about growing up in the 50's in suburban LA. Yes, there were good things. A long hot sunny day at Santa Anita County Park in Arcadia, with a 6am arrival for biscuits that Dorothy made for the church picnic, long swims in the "plunge", bbq's and games, potato salad and watermelon, all capped off by the smoky sulphur smell and excitement of the fireworks. The hours before the show were full of anticipation as everyone spread out their blankets and lit their own fireworks, with sparklers and fountains and of course, firecrackers, which were always scary.

So, for whatever reason, I always try to recreate that feeling on this holiday, not for patriotic reasons, but to step back to a simpler time in my life, or at least a time that appears simpler from a distance. It was simple on this one day, and lovely. This year I had the same simple lovely day. My kids have learned that even though I make noises about, "Oh I am fine, you have a good weekend, sorry we can't get togeher"...if I am alone on the 4th, I whine, and feel really sad. Deanna knew this, and as Mo and I were settling in on Thursday evening after I arrived, she suddenly appeared at the door, 350 miles without a warning. I am soo glad we weren't camping at Lake of the Woods and we originally planned. Deborah arrived the next afternoon, and Sally and Savannah came over as well to share in the fun. We kayaked on the warm clear waters of the local quarry, ate lots of potato salad and watermelon, Mo made peach waffles for breakfast, and we sat around the porch table in the evening mixing bug spray and shots and laughing ourselves silly.

The fireworks show in Klamath was wonderful, orchestrated perfectly, not too much, not too little, and the crowds were just enough to feel full of energy and fun but not unmanageable. On Saturday we planned a do-nothing day of relaxation which turned into a marathon wood splitting and stacking day that was a ton of fun, or maybe 2 tons, but at least 2 cords anyway. Sunday we headed back to the quarry with the kayaks after Deanna left and Sal and Savannah joined us again for lazy cool clear sunny skies and perfect water.

On this day, once again, I felt that perfect thing that reminds me that life can be really really good.

NASA website

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fire_and_smoke.html

Funny, I keep thinking about writing something about my wonderful weekend over the 4th, but instead, back home in California, the smoke sucks out all my breath and dominates everything. This web site is amazing, with NASA images of the fires as they are happening. Seems as though NASA is helping out the state of california and the forest service with thermal imaging. If you look at the photos, you will see lots of cool 3d kinds of imagery that we are now using for soil survey.

Soil survey went through a huge period of change back in the 40's with the advent of readily available aerial photography, somewhat because of WWII. Instead of a plane table and surveying tools from the past, soil scientists used stereo pairs of black and white photos to view the landscape in 3d and draw soil boundaries. Now we use GIS, and the technology is exploding and the changes are exponential. It's an interesting period to be a mapping soil scientist, for sure, if you can handle rapid change. Some soils scientists are having trouble, others never had the opportunity to do it the old way so don't have a clue about the limitations of technology when it comes to the real world. But either way, the technology is incredibly cool, or in this case with the fires, hot.