Harvesters

You are such a wonderful lot and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kind words and well wishes. They mean such a lot and are gratefully received. 

The sky was such a beautiful blue, sprinkled with fluffy white clouds this morning as we made our pilgrimage to Kathy's Pilates/physical therapy studio this morning. It is hard to see in this picture but there is a row of harvesters parked in between the rows of vines. I can't tell what is on top but they might be conveyor belts that carry the grapes to the harvest bins. However, the fact that I didn't see any bins leads me to believe that they might just be planning to drop the grapes because of last week's month's smoke. The ways of the winemaker are fraught with mystery and uncertainty.

On the way home, just as we passed this scene, aa plume of smoke appeared ahead of us. Part of a  large power station can be seen to the bottom left of the picture in extras. I don't think anybody is blasé about such things...a few people turned off on side roads...but most of the traffic carried on as normal or perhaps a little more slowly. We were also fairly near the airport so the planes flying overhead could have been normal airport traffic, but when one flew past us below the level of the houses, we were quite sure they were headed for the fire. That would have been a dramatic picture, taken down on a plane flying below us. 

At this point we were driving through Fountaingrove, an area almost entirely destroyed by the 2017 Tubbs Fire and just beginning to show signs of recovery. Workers were standing on half built rooftops for a better view.  Many people, including two guys who now live across the street from us, chose not to rebuild in Fountaingrove.  With no wind gusts, things seemed to be well in hand today, but it does cause a lurch of the stomach to see smoke and fire engines. If the winds had been gusting, it could have been an entirely different scene.

Those winds and higher temperatures are predicted for the weekend. Even on beautiful days with fluffy white clouds in the skies and moderate temperatures there is still a definite sensation of waiting for the other shoe to drop....

My friend just texted me that her father who is 93 and lives just down the road from us often says, 'I've lived a pretty long life, but I've never seen anything like 2020.' 

California governor, Gavin Newsom, today announced an executive order banning the sale of gasoline cars and trucks starting in 2035. More than one out of every new cars sold in the US is sold in California.

A couple of months ago, Trump rushed to send unwanted Federal agents to Portland to deal with peaceful protests and trash fires, but he showed only indifference when millions of acres and thousands of homes burned across the West. "It'll start getting cooler" was his only comment when viewing the damage caused by climate change caused megafires.  

Sort of like "It'll go away " has been his strategy for managing the coronavirus.

I fear that the election may not be the end of the story for this man who acts like a four year old but thinks he's a dictator...but that is a thought for another day. My hard drive is definitely full for today.