FIRE, FIRE, AND MORE FIRE!

We have had a devastating fire season this year. The West has burned as never before. The fire in Yosemite created so much smoke in Lake Tahoe, that it was literally hard to see the mountains.

We lost 19 firefighters in Colorado. The Yosemite fire burned over 200,000 acres.

Unbelievable loss.

Nightline did a segment on planes that are used for fighting these fires. Did you know that they are so old they were used in the Korean War? Did you know they often crash - two last year, and one that literally lost its wings before crashing this year? The fleet has actually shrunk from 45 to just 11 planes. At one point this summer we had over 250 forest fires burning out of control.

The drought over the last ten years has created millions of acres burned, thousands of homes destroyed, and 200 dead firefighters.

A Forest Service report discussing the replacement of this aging fleet was first discussed in 2002! This is 2013 and absolutely nothing as been done.

Six air tankers were ordered the day the 19 firefighters died. None showed up. Not one. They were literally left on their own. It is unknown if they would have survived with air support, but one thing is for sure - we will never know.

I live at Lake Tahoe. Some argue that we get what we deserve if we live in the forest - after all, it's good for the forest to burn on occasion. I don't disagree. But the clarity of Lake Tahoe is seriously threatened with every fire that has run off. This lake is a national treasure. I hope the next generation and many more after that will have the pleasure of looking at  its clear blue water.

So while we watch our natural resources burn, our politicians in Washington continue to debate yet another war. Estimates range in the trillions to maintain the 1,000 military bases the United States has around the world. Yet we have only 11 Korean War-era bombers equipped to fight fires in the United States.

There is something really wrong with this picture. 

Fire!

Nothing like leaving home to go on vacation and then learn that your city is on fire. I don't know if we are lucky or not to be 2,000 miles away from our home this week. We've been in constant contact with our house sitters on whether or not they will need to evacuate. Over 25 homes have burned in Reno over the last two days.

A strange fire. It has moved all over the place, picking out homes in very odd places, not just the ones close to where it started. High winds have made it difficult for fire fighters to get it under control. My heart goes out to all of those that were somehow the recipients of this fickle monster.

It's funny, but when you try to tell someone what they need to save - it really isn't much. I mean, we have a whole house full of stuff, but nothing of real value. The valuable stuff is already out of the house, I guess. When you get right down to it, the only thing that really matters are the living. So now that Lucy is safe, we can enjoy our view:

Helping Pakistan

The people of Pakistan are in desperate need of help. 20 million people were made homeless by this natural disaster. Crops are underwater, businesses ruined. Water-born disease is eminent.  From Huffington Post:

"We are here like beggars," said Mukhtar Ali, a 45-year-old accountant living on the side of a highway along with thousands of other people. "The last food we received was a small packet of rice yesterday and 15 of us shared that."


• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged Americans to donate $10 to Pakistan flood relief by texting "SWAT" to 50555. Clinton said the funds would be used by the United Nations to provide food, water, medicine, tents and clothing to affected families.


I truly believe that anything you give with an open heart comes back to you ten-fold.

We are One.

A Mountain Tsunami?

I guess every rose has its thorn.

It seems even in the mountains one can be at risk of a tsunami. A study done on Lake Tahoe, with three separate fault lines running through it, has proven that tsunami events have happened in the past. A wall of water three stories high could hit Incline Village, in the event of a large earthquake. Whew! That would be very cold water. Although it never freezes, the surface temperature is usually 40-50 degrees in the winter and a constant 39 degrees at 600-700 feet deep. It warms in the summer to around 65 degrees on the surface. 

Lake Tahoe is 1,645 feet deep, covering 191 square miles. It is the largest alpine lake in North America. (Crater Lake in Oregon is 300 feet deeper, but much smaller.)

With the 7.2 earthquake in Baja California yesterday, it does cause me to consider the advantage of not being right on the lake. Being grateful for not living right on the lake is a new one for me.

You can always find something for which to be grateful.