Hold The Phone

Well, the fire was almost out, but it turned a corner and began burning back toward Gates of the Mountains.

New plan once it hits the wilderness area?

Let it burn.

They don't get any smarter, but they are consistent.

The View From Here

Mountain tops should look like this.Not like this.

Or this.

Or this.

Or this.

6,000+ acres and it's all over but the shouting.

Close Enough For Government Work

This is the Meriwether Fire burning in the Gates of the Mountains wilderness area.Started by lightning, when discovered, it was two acres and could have easily been suppressed.

Forestry professionals have good explanations why fire is beneficial to forest health. Let it burn, is a current Forest Service management technique.*

This morning around 3 AM, the Meriwether Fire burned out of the wilderness and now threatens private property and lives.Not the least of which are the volunteer fire fighters struggling to save neighbors' homes.

My question is this -- why do officials always act surprised?

Yes, it's two acres. We could put it out, but a little fire is good for the forest.

Now it's 2,200 acres and we have a big freakin' catastrophe on our hands.

What did they expect would happen?


*Even after this disaster in 1988 when the "Let It Burn" philosophy nearly destroyed one of America's finest assets.

Mille Grazie

Phenomena I missed because they weren't age appropriate for my child at the time.

Barney

Harry Potter

Things I'm grateful for this week.

I missed Barney and Harry Potter, and that Chevy trucks have steel beam reinforced doors.

Friday Fill-In

From Fond of Snape.

1. Christmas makes me remember my childhood. My mother made every Christmas morning magical.

2. I like to use garlic when I cook. Because everyone who walks by says, "What smells so good?"

3. Bureaucracy really pisses me off.

4. I've been thinking about death lately.

5. The last song I heard that I liked was You're Breaking My Heart.

6. Naked by starlight. I always thought that would be neat. You know, like outside. Alas, I am too chicken. You never know who has a flashlight.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner, tomorrow my plans include looking for a replacement vehicle and Sunday, I want to forget this whole week!

Life In A Split Second

After I completed EMT training and started answering emergency medical calls for our fire department, I worried about how I would do when we were called to our first car wreck.

I didn’t plan to be it.

Monday morning, I cruised the Net, checking activities in Portland, planning our vacation next month to the Oregon coast.

I made progress on my current script and liked what I read. Maybe this will be the “one.”

Ate lunch, collected my Dad and we ran errands in the afternoon.

On the way home, at an intersection I’ve passed countless times, a man driving a full-size Dodge pickup, was waving to a friend, and started across the intersection without noticing I was already there.

He hit us at the driver’s door, which sent the Chevy sliding sideways up a hill until it hit the soft dirt at the side of the road and commenced to roll.

Shaken witnesses at the scene said the car rolled three times.

Fortunately, I don't remember the roll.

I clearly remember the scene out the windshield, sliding sideways up the road. Then starting to roll.

Returned to full consciousness after coming to rest upright.

This ceiling center console which held interior lights and a place for the garage door opener, came loose and bashed into my head.

Every window, save the back one over the tailgate, broke out.

Six Good Samaritans ran to the car, all clutching their cell phones, all calling for help, all trying to assure us help was on the way.

One older lady held my hand while trying to call my family, and she was so upset, she couldn’t get her phone to work. The rollover must have been a horrific to watch. No fun to endure.

Neither air bag deployed.

Volunteer fireman, guys I’ve trained with, used the Jaws of Life, to remove the door so they could package me for the ambulance.

Package. That’s what we call it. An intricate set of procedures to insure the patient suffers no further injury before medical help can be reached. I’ve practiced this several times in training. Works slick, but trust me, it’s no fun being the package.

Another team removed my father.

After eight hours, the hospital sent us home. Dad has a broken collar bone. He’s out of commission for six weeks.

I have cuts, strained muscles and a heck of a bruise on my head. (And I later discovered, a torsion injury in my back from the seat belt that saved my life.) Even my hair hurts.

Today’s Wednesday. My aches are fading. I’m a little less stiff. What doesn’t seem to diminish is my memory.

I clearly remember the view through the windshield and having the presence of mind to think, this is my life. This moment. This second.

Not in three weeks on vacation. Or next fall when the Nicholls are announced. Or that fateful day I get it all together and something sells.

This second, I’m rolling a two ton car.

Make your life what you want it to be. Not next week or six months from now.

This second.

Tagged

Tagged by Candace from Chapterhouse.

1. We HAVe to post these RUles beFORE we give you the facts.
2. PlAYers start with eight RANdom facts/HAbits about thEMSElves.
3. PEople who are tagGED need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these RUles.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagGED and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a COmment telling them they’re tagGED, and to read your blog.

Eight Random Facts

1. Apparently, I am addicted to Starbucks Double Shot Espresso in a can. In a can. At least it's convenient.

2. I like my dogs more than a lot of people I know.

3. I see Candace confessed to a hopeless sense of direction. I have that too. On a recent ride in the mountains, I had three maps, a compass and God help me, a GPS and if you asked me where I was, all I could say was on my ATV. I sat there, looking at all that information, and realized NONE of it was in my head. Or likely to be there.

Now, I spawned a child who can stand in the WILDERNESS and point to magnetic North. How does she do this? I do not know. I suspect too much iron in her blood. I am confident that sequence of DNA was a gift from her father.

4. I am very organized. This does not mean I like to vacuum.

5. My watercolor paintings are getting better, though I doubt the Louvre will be calling any time soon. We recently posed for a press release photo for the EMT service and I painted a bandage to use on our pretend patient. It was a disgustingly, beautifully painted bandage. I forgot it at home when we went for the picture. Did I mention I was organized?

6. I like cats better in theory than in real life.

7. New socks, a stack of books and sun tea make me feel rich.

8. I'd like cooking more if there was no mess to clean up after.

I'm usually too chicken to tag anyone. If you're reading this and want to play, please do.

Memes are fun.