No one you know

she’s not a woman

of the river or sea

not a woman of healers or majik

she is not even a women

not one you know

she is part mist part monster

her mother was lichen and

the long gaze

from too far north

Four things

Been cleaning, unpacking and repacking. It’s a blessing //maybe? // that I am so good at living as though I need to get up and go at the drop of a hat.

A few must haves for the road warrior:

  1. Yeti 32 oz. tumbler, with handle

  2. Small Yeti cooler (or Ozark knockoff)

  3. Ethiopian wedding bands.

  4. Cherry Amber

Cleaning and preparing, it’s still early in fire season.

Cleaning and preparing, it’s still early in fire season.

I ordered a rooftop cargo bag, roof mat and a net bungee. This is all more preparation for wildfire evacuations. I have to do to, wish I didn’t have to but it’s the responsible thing to go. There is simply not enough room in my vehicle for 3 adults and two full grown German Shepards.

I’m quite exhausted.

What’s left

After walking around here feeling very uncomfortable about all this cleanup, actually it’s not the clean up it’s the unsettling feeling that I get when I look at certain things. There’s just been too many evacuations over the past years. I still have a bag of photos in the vehicle of which three have broken glass frames from last autumn’s 2+ week evacuation. I’m over here thinking, do I bring them back into the house? I can’t leave them in the vehicle for much longer, with all the commuting I do they’ll only get further damage. These aren’t photos that are digital.

I don’t want to loose anymore of my everythings.

Yeah I know, it’s just stuff. But I have lost so much of my everything already and want to and am going to hold on to what I have left.

#wallbridgefire #loss #barebones #holdingon

packing up precious things

packing up precious things

You’ll surprise yourself

Today is September 11, 2020. I am just now able to gather some of my thoughts and unpack from 2 Evacuations since August 18th. One was a mandatory evac and the other was a warning to be prepared as the Walbridge Fire gained strength and the winds pushed it towards our village again. 

My Jeep is still a mess inside

hopefully I can wash it this weekend and repack my car bugout bag. It’s a lot. 

I’m unable to return calls or even talk to people for now. I need time to rest, I’m deeply exhausted from taking care of all the people and animals and all the things. Taking care of myself has always been last. Making changes around that.

It’s going very slow. My throat hurts from the smoke.

It’s interesting when one has to evacuate with no time to linger on thoughts and scenarios of what they might need, what they don’t want to loose, what the important documents are.

You’ll surprise yourself when it comes to items you treasure and what you’ll let go when you only have 20 minutes or less to get out. You’ll surprise yourself. 

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This Ocher sky

The winds calmed last night so we didn’t have to evacuate. It’s 86 degrees out, substantially cooler than yesterday and the sky has an errie ocher glow, reminiscent of the sky in the movie Vanilla Sky but ocher instead of pink. I’ll still be keeping the Jeep packed with important documents and some other things that will remain there until sometime in November when

“Fire Season” The new normal that shouldn’t be.

I had not even unpacked the Jeep from last weeks Evacuation which lasted two weeks for us and here I am packing again. I’m pretty good at overlanding but this, this is different. A lot is required of me to make sure that my loved ones are safe and have what they need to stay healthy and comfortable. There’s very little room inside of a compact SUV carrying three adults and 2 German Shepards so I’ve been reading reviews of the best waterproof cargo roof bag and a car alarm. I’ve had no use for a car alarm since I stopped working in the cities but need one now as I drive into cities and areas unknown to me for temporary lodging. I was able to get Cove, my migraine medicine provider to send me a three month supply of my migraine meds. Something we all need to do when we live in an area with so many natural disasters. Let me clarify.. when one evacuates suddenly and only has a week or less of refills on their meds, it can be a nightmare to reroute the script to another pharmacy in another county or state.

It’s advisable to get a three month supply of meds, especially those who take life saving meds and have them at the ready in your go-bag.

I can’t believe we have to live like this, always having the go-bag ready, but it’s our new normal out here. 

I’m exhausted and need deep restorative rest and sleep but won’t get it very often until after November and then I’ll be preparing for  the floods we get out here that require us to evacuate as well. 

Yes you’re right, it is no longer sustainable for me to live in these redwoods which I love so much. They’ve always been a safe haven for all of us. To be under the redwood veil and mist has saved my life so many times, and the lives of many others. I have begun a grieving of leaving the woods here, my plans have not  come into vision yet and I wouldn’t speak of them yet if they did. Changes are on the wind though and I’m sad for now. It’ll change and I’ll be energized and bright walking into a new way but for now, I’m exhausted and sad. 

What’s helping: Lactuca, Passiflora, Kava, Forbidden Fruit, CBD, Cal Poppy, Ashawagandha, Jamaican dogwood, Pedicularis densiflora, Magnesium, Glycine.

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Power Outage, Off Grid Preparation

Working or living off grid teaches one a lot of about how to survive. Here's some worthwhile info I learned working and dwelling off grid.

Water enough for a week, one gallon a day per person. Half gallon for dogs and cats per day.

Protein bars

Beef jerky

Laughing cow cheese

Apples and oranges

Dried sopressa dried sausage from Trader Joe's or other dried salami Box or power cream for coffee

Powdered milk and powdered cream

Instant coffee

Wine

Whisky

Crackers

Pink salt for hydration

Coconut oil for coffee and body/hands

Smoke oysters

Instant oatmeal

Canned foods

Small packs of mayo, ketchup, creamers etc

Instant potatoes

Dog-food

Leash

Camp stove or camp burner

Propane

First aide kit include herbal tinctures

Cannabis

Pipe for cannabis

Rolling papers

Supplements

Baby wipes

Hand sanitizer

Good garbage bags

Ziplock bags

Clorox wipes

Toilet paper

Power packs

Solar power packs

Radio

Two way radio or walkie talkie/Motorola

Good headlamp

LED lanterns & Lights

Batteries of all kinds

Lighter, matches

Earphones or and earbuds and a spare

Power cords and spares

Extra track phone

iPad or and laptop fully charged

Cash

Downloaded movies, music news, files for offline

Apps for offline: Pocket, Google Drive, AmazonPrime, Youtube Ham radio

FCC license