Disaster in My Wake

Two weeks ago my pal Syd sent a message with the subject line “Fire near Grover”:

Seems that wherever you go… a fire breaks out after you leave???

True. First there was the one near Homestead Cottages outside Ahwahnee. Now, her email informed me, the Tamarack Fire was approaching Markleeville and Grover Hot Springs. Caused by lightning strikes, it started out in early July as a wee, quarter-acre concern that crews monitored rather than extinguished. But suddenly it exploded and has now burned nearly 70,000 acres and crossed into Nevada.

But it doesn’t end there. This morning Eleni sent me a link to an article about two new blazes that ignited last night, also from lightning. Needless to say, they are in the Trinity Alps. Luckily, as of now they are still small, and I believe that smoke jumpers have gotten a line around them. But as I wrote before, boy is that area ripe for burning, with all the fuel from dead and downed trees. One of the fires is about two miles, as a crow flies, from our Adams Lake hike.

Misfortune does seem to occur in threes (no, really: I believe that), so I hope for no flames in my wake after my next trip. For one thing, the part of Lassen that Ember and I plan to visit in late August appears far less wooded than these other places, judging from my perusal of satellite maps. Still, it’s reassuring to know that the park has excellent roads and multiple exits. Tragically, the Dixie Fire a bit south of there is still raging and growing.

Eleni also sends me frequent and terrifying updates about Covid: the Delta variant, breakthrough cases for vaccinated people and heightened risk of their transmitting the virus, often asymptomatically, and delays in administration of a vaccine to kids under twelve. Oh, and now Delta Plus. She and I both spend too much time boiling with fury at the militantly stupid people who refuse the vaccines with claims of infringement of their “freedom.” Their arrogant ignorance has caused profound suffering for millions. In the Chico area, inoculation rates are much lower than where I am, which of course makes life there all the more risky. I worry, too, about my grandkids who should have been back in school by now, but instead may be in danger of falling ever further behind academically despite Eleni’s inspired homeschooling program. Possibly more disturbing, the virus has completely denied them contact with their peers for nearly a year and a half. I wonder how these experiences will affect their developing awareness of the world.

The happier news is that in less than a week Molly, Josh and I are scheduled to go East to see Small for five nights. Wish us luck with the flights. I expect they won’t be fun, but I’ll be in good company. This is who will be watching over my yard in my absence.