A cold rain came through two days ago and the temperature dropped from the 90s to the 50s which hardly gave me time to find my sweatshirts, somewhere in one of the the drawers or shelves where I keep such garments. I was not prepared.
In the meantime, fires raged all up and down California, which I assume you know as well as do I. However, this was the first time I’d seen them down in the San Diego area which is where my grandson and his wife live along with my great-grandson and his California grandparents. So I called granddaughter. She assured me that while she could see the smoke, there’s a mountain between where they live and San Diego itself. So for now, they are safe. However, California mountains, large and small, are pretty much covered by trees and brush.
And I won’t even mention all the political chaos other than to say, there’s also a lot of political anger and violence. More fire.
I did, however, clean up my laptop today and deleted a large file-pile of old documents and trash and it’s working again. Maybe the rain helped it.
One of the surprises of the past few days was seeing a decrease of birds at the feeder. Somehow many of them read the signs of the times and took off for the south. What’s remained, for the most part, are the young summer fledglings. Hopefully, some of them will realize their parents didn’t simply desert them but headed in a direction they are also to take.
I could use a little Bob Dylan these days, live rather than recorded, although I do have his albums. I’m not clear on what causes these upheavals in culture every forty years or so although they do seem to happen that way: the 1920s into the 1960s into the 2020s. Which also seem to correspond to the wars the US gets itself into.
I’ve probably written this before, but so often the lines from T.S.Elliot run through my mind: “I am old, I wear my pants legs rolled.” Right now, it’s entirely too chilly to roll up my pants legs or forgo socks, but the line rolls through my head none the less.
And none of us know where this … whatever it is… will go.
janetsunderland.com 
WordPress woes kept me away ..n then my laptop packed up…housebound with a fracture on top.of other issues curfew and desolating loss of my mum and i just did not feel like even teading anything.
Coming out of the stupor a bit now…enjoying your writing as usual.
Tc Janet. Best always
(Excuse typos..doing this on small phone screen)
Hi Rose! How nice to see your name again. I am so sorry to hear about your mother. There’s really nothing someone can say (sorry for your loss doesn’t cut it!!) other than my heart goes out to you. What I know from my own mother dying is that it takes time before we can remember the laughing moments again. The loss never leaves, but the deep grief lessens bit by bit. But even now, as I’m writing you, I can feel my own heart contracting, remembering my mother’s death. I guess, with all the useless things we can say about grief is that it’s a forever in some ways along with the I’m getting through this, too.
As for the laptop, they do have a way with complicating our lives!!! And giving us a way to reach out, too.
I keep remembering the astrology conferences I watched a few years ago when they began talking of 2020 being a difficult and chaotic time. Back then, I went, well, okay. But there’s always some chaos. This year has added chaos onto chaos onto crazy. “This too shall pass.” One of my mother’s favorite sayings. But she was right and it will pass, eventually…. not soon enough, perhaps, but eventually. A big wrap around hug to you, lady. And don’t mind the misspellings, my writing on my phone is usually worse!! 🙂
Where will it go indeed?
Congrats on getting papers validating your new abode! And how fortunate to be in beautiful lands and valleys. I do miss the desert, often, but my skin was beginning to look leathery. Alas. I keep thinking I need to return to Hawaii where I also lived for awhile. But getting on a long plane ride sounds unappealing.
Thanks for giving us a firsthand account of what you in CA are experiencing. Best wishes for getting through the aftermath. I like that T.S. Eliot poem, too.
A cold front moved in here for a couple of days, too–only 90 today and it was 64 this morning. Divine! But not getting out any sweaters. 🙂 My heart aches for California, Washington, and other burning states, where natural burns or looting burns. The only positive thing about most of the wildfires is they weren’t arson and of course there’s the unexpected snow in some states that’s helped damp the flames. But other than that, it’s horrific. The other sort of burning is inexcusable as well as also horrific and that’s all I’ll say.
We have a lovely riparian area not far from us and I’m looking forward to seeing what the migration season brings flying in. We also discovered a smaller but excellent wetlands about an hour and a half away in Tucson. We visited the latter on Saturday and the Saturday before headed the same direction to explore Saguaro National Park. If my husband weren’t on call so many weekends (IT guy), we could explore a lot more. It will be even more fun once it cools off. We evidently moved during the hottest summer on record. Hurrah for us! 😦
We officially became Arizonians today, getting driver’s and car licenses as well as title and registrations, although they all have to be sent to us, which I find a bit odd. One last big thing accomplished.
Take care and be well.
janet
Hi Janet, and all: I called my youngest sister in Oregon today after seeing fires were spreading there, too, and we had a long chat. She’d been cleaning out a box of photos, tossing duplicates, and preparing more or less for the eventuality of having to escape quickly. I can’t even imagine, even with my wild imagination, what that must be like. So far the fires are east and south of her, but fires they are nonetheless. Two days ago, I called my granddaughter who lives in Southern California after seeing there were fires in San Diego County. She said there’s a mountain between where the fires are and where they are. I didn’t say anything but I did think, well, all those mountains are covered in very dry trees. It’s not an easy thing to have family on the west coast right now, even as much as I like the west coast. Here in Kansas City, we had rain.
We have a daughter and son-in-law in Pasadena and relatives in various places in California as well as friends, so definitely a concern. Of course I’m concerned for all the other poor people losing ,or thinking they might lose, everything. Even here in Arizona, they suggest an emergency to-go bag, although we’re unlikely to get anything here in the ‘burbs. But there have been fires in AZ this year as well. Such horrific losses in CA especially but in many other states as well. My husband just read the fires are threatening Portland suburbs. Was there not enough burning there already?
We actually got some rain the other night, which makes all the desert plants look mighty sprightly and us glad we don’t have to water for a time. But we’ve even had less rain here than most years at this time, according to my parents, who’ve lived here for over 30 years.
Praying all your relatives and ours stay safe and their property as well.