Photos by Joann

Both of these photos were taken from our front yard this evening. Theone with the sun on the left side is to the northwest, and the onewith the sun on the right is facing west. Hopefully, the fire iscontained at Montgomery Woods. They were using helicopters againtoday, and also doing controlled burns. Notice there is blue sky aboveand the sun is coming down into the smoke, making a beautiful sunset.Gratefully yours,

JoAnn

Photo from Yoli

An article by Marylyn Motherbear Scott

Here is an article written by Marylyn Motherbear Scott and published in The Ukaih Daily Journal on Sunday, June 29, 2008.

Our family home is at the flickering tip of the tongue of the sleeping dragon, the leading edge of the fire on Radical Ridge at Greenfield Ranch, called the Jack Smith fire. My son Emrys Scott was born in our hand-built home, in the back-to-the-land days, and now lives in that same house with his wife Freyja and their two year old daughter, Sophia, also born at home.Today he is standing ready, the fire only a thousand feet away, defending the space.This is the seventh day for Emrys, fighting fires, first at the Dress home, then at our land, where it now encroaches. On Monday when the fire turned toward us, Emrys returned home from Bob and Lynn's to fightthe fire at our end. Several other folks, some of whom lived up our way, some from Sister's Ridge, and a friend from Redwood Valley, and friends from Sebastopol and Lake County, all went up to Radical Ridge. Our family network, all of whom were raised on Greenfield, became activated. On Monday, I spoke to Emrys when he was at the line, heard his breath working as he worked whatever implement he was using to create the fire break. He assured me he was fine and then said, "gotta go, mom, gotta do this". It was good to hear his voice, to know where he was and what he was doing. Something happened to me in that moment, however; some information was given beyond the words. I didn't know who was up there with him at the time, but I knew there were others. What I did know with every cell in my body was that help was needed, ... more strong arms, and professional firefighters. I called my daughter, Trynt Young, in San Diego, a longtime Santee firefighter. She read the maps and told me that the fire was extremely dangerous and they should get out of there. I then crossed over all the advice against making emergency-type calls, tying up the lines, etc. I reached CalFire, told the urgent story of volunteer firefighter, parents with small children at home, facing the fire, wanting to save the family homes, endangered. They told me to call 911. I did. CDFresponded. Emrys was on the line when the fire sprung up close. He felt the heat and left the site, taking his group to safety with him. It was later that I heard that half a dozen other volunteers got caught inside the fire. One of the more experienced mountain men led the group out through the already burned places to safety. These people were courageous, attempting to do what brave people do, face danger when needed, sometimes not knowing how it would go or where it would end up, working with their wits and their bodies. The professionals came to the scene to save lives, and, thank goodness, have stayed ever since. I believe (without any confirmation) that they saw the need once there, saw the extent to which the resident volunteers would work to save their homes, assessed the dangers to lifeand homes, and stayed. CDF has been resourceful, supportive and appreciative of the volunteers. Commendations go to Captain MichaelMaynard and his crew for the way this under-resourced firefight is being handled. Recent communications say that with greater resources, the firefightersmight take an aggressive stand against the fire. Without resources andtanker planes, it's a waiting game. A waiting game with lots of prayer and gratitude playing into it.Three of my children were born at home on the Ranch, two of my grandchildren. All six of my children were raised there and many of my thirteen grandchildren spend precious time on the Ranch, experiencingthe old days and ways. Being on the land is a great teacher. Standing in the family home brings teachings of its own. Each is giving to the effort what he or she can, sisters and brothers keeping each other in intimate touch, searching on-line for sometimeshidden information, writing posts and blogs, networking to stay current with the latest information. Day to day, minute to minute, the fire can change. Late reports say that as other fires are contained, more help is coming to our aid as the firefighters get released; but just today we heard that usually they would have ten times the number of workers for fires of this magnitude. An urgent request has been made by the Governor, for a Stateof Emergency to be declared in California by the President, and forfederal money and people be sent to Mendocino County. Please add your voices to the call: Representatives, Senators, the Governor, the White House. Following is an on-site report. There have been others since, but this one carries a certain poignancy Thursday, June 26, 2008 fromLasara at 5:40 P.M She's up at the property with a few other people, clearing more trimming debris. Emrys is cutting a fire break up the ridge on the opposite side of thecanyon across Jack Smith Creek with the excavator. It's not been windy todayThey have one fire crew on hand, the capt. of which said he was told he should expect to be there 30 days.Lasara said the fire appears to be making a slow, inevitable march toward the fire lines. It is burning slow, and moving slow, not usually climbing into the trees. It has passed Soren's cabin but a fire break around it may have held.Firefighters still consider making an aggressive push to contain it,but it seems unlikely with limited resources and no air tankers.Otherwise it's just kind of a slow torture at this point, unless thefire changes, until it hits a fire break and a stand is made. posted on June 26, 2008 by Tobias Young

Photos Before the Thunderstorms

The photos that I took the evening of the big electrical storm--they aren't showing up on themusing blog.I posted them on another blog, here is a link to the blog . Here is the link:http://skywatcherphotos.blogspot.com/

Gratefully yours,JoAnn

MendoLake Exchange Wants YOU!

I am writing to you from the MendoLake Exchange magazine, out of Ukiah. For our next issue we would like do a retrospective on the current/recent fires burning across Lake and Mendocino Counties. We are asking for residents & firefighters to send us any information, thoughts, photos or feelings they would like to share.

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think may be interested.

Forward all information to Denise@GoMLX.com.

Thank you for assistance,

Denise M. Hazen, Assistant Editor

8 Gifts from a Wildfire, by Lasara

Eight Gifts from a Wild Fire, OR, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, 2008, OR, What I Gained in the Fire by LaSara FireFox, www.lasarafirefox.com

1. It's reminded us what's truly precious.
Life, limb, love, family, breath itself. Houses can be rebuilt. Communities will resurrect. Dreams can be molded from scratch. Life itself, and those we love, are the only truly non-renewable resources we stand to lose in the ancient battle of man against nature.

Nature's bigger, and we owe It Its due. Sometimes it's time to stand down, turn-tail and run. If it comes to it, at least we know we did what we could to create the most positive possible outcome.

The permanence/impermanence questions arise and fall away, and what's still true when the smoke clears is that if we're all still standing, we've made it through with what truly matters.

2. It's an opportunity to catch up with childhood friends.
Many of us have moved far a field from the halcyon days that founded the fields we grew up in. But in the last week I've seen more than a couple friendships renewed.

It's great to see everyone claiming the ground we stand on again. We've had a chance to meet anew on common soil. We can continue the trend.

3. It's a chance to remember what we're capable of.
Felling and moving trees by hand, making homestead after homestead fire safe, sleeping with the crackling of fire and the occasional "BOOM!" of an exploding tree echoing in the distance.

Emergency may bring out the best or the worst in each of us. I think most of us have had our moments of each. But the glory of the body under strain is miraculous. Feats of amazing strength and endurance stand as testament to our ability to persevere. To endure.

My personal contribution, while not monumental in the overall scheme of things, has made me feel more competent and confident. And younger than I was last week.

On a community level, we've been reminded too. Teams of community crew have been out roaming from home to home, making sure things are as prepared as possible. I think we've been given back something in that; it's a thing we FOUND in this fire.

4. A common "enemy" unites the good in us all.
When was the last time you got to see a sheriff, county and state employees, and medical marijuana providers pulling together to create a positive outcome?

Well, there's a first time for everything. This was it, for this particular assemblage. It was, and is, a thing of beauty.

Let's adopt this one for the long term, wherever we can. What would the world be like if we focused on the areas that bring us together rather than the ones that divide and conquer?

There will be a lot of rebuilding to do here in our community, in our county, and across the state, once the fires have burned themselves out. Let's learn from the fires, and from the flooding in New Orleans, and the other disasters that we've all been shaped by over the past few years. Let's find, and reinforce our strengths.

5. It's a chance to let bygones be bygones.
Communities pull together in times of challenge. With communities as old as ours, there's a lot of water under the bridge. What better chance will we ever have to let the past fall away and the present emerge renewed, like the naked floor of our forest home, than this?

We're all lending a hand. Let's try to find a smile for one another in the shared work. Let's let words be a balm and hearts heal. It's never too late to let our wounds heal.

6. it's a chance to get perspective on continuity and change.
Last time our community had to pull together to fight fires, it was a generation earlier. The kids at the edges were us - now we're the ones on the front lines helping the older folks stay out of harm's way.

A generation ago the gardens of green would have been yanked before the fire crews got on site. Now the conversation had as we sit with the civil servants waiting for the flames to come - or fall away - are about legalization, double binds, fair taxation, and how to end the war in Iraq so we can all feel good about paying our taxes again.

Some things change, some stay the same. We're still proving what we're made of out in the outlaw hills of Mendo, but we're also taking direction from the trained professionals who are here to help. We're sitting in community, uniforms of tie die and jeans, and uniforms of safety yellow, side by side.

7. It allows the space to cultivate nonattachment.
Nonattachment is a practice. Sometimes it's a practice breath by breath. With the fire, we've had days of preparing for the possible loss of childhood homes, investments, holdings. And, day by day we sacrifice more to the hope of stopping the fire before it hits the houses.

Trees come down, one by one. Bulldozer tracks are cut into hills and valleys. Dirt stands exposed - raw soil open the amber, apocalyptic haze of day.

We lose a limb, to save a body. And even then, it's a gamble. There is nothing to control, nor be controlled by. Moment to moment new choices arise. And then the moment passes, and that is gone too.

8. It gives us a chance to gain global perspective, and cultivate compassion and gratitude.
While taking tools in hand and making our space "defensible", i thought long and hard about my friends in the middle east who have this thought as a constant one, and not against a force of nature, but against other human beings.

With this awareness, I grow the love in my heart, wishing that this love could come like a cleansing rain and quench the thirsty soil and soul of a planet embattled. I find gratitude in the moments where common ground is found, and grow the prayer, rising up, from my lips;

"May this act and all acts be dedicated unto the complete liberation and supreme enlightenment of all beings pervading space and time. So it is. May the benefit of practice, mine and others, come to fruition ultimately and immediately, and I remain in a state of presence."

May this act benefit all beings.

Stay safe wherever you are. Kiss your babies. Hold your loved ones. Look for the silver-linings in those billowing clouds of smoke. And, keep on loving each other.

Poem by Steve Ryals

When Fires Sleep

When fires sleep,

Do they dream of rain?

Of drowning in wet,

Forest dissolving

In the bliss of

No more?

Fire is passion,

The dance of Shiva,

The cycle of

Life and death –

Forest welcomes fire

As it does winter rain,

The eternal wheel of

Renewal rolling free

In our backyard -

When we understand

This dance,

We can rejoice

With the burned forest,

Knowing that it is

Already busy

Being reborn -

--Steve Ryals

Photos from before the thunderstorm

The pix that I sent you were taken on the Solstice. We were having some lightning
that evening, however, the bulk of the storm started around 8 hours after these were taken.
The sky was breathtakingly dynamic. It was hard to capture what was really going on.
JoAnn

P1020484.JPG 32K View Download

P1020488.JPG 41K View Download

Calming and Centering Advice

Calming and Centering Advice

Hi this is JoAnn SkyWatcher,
If you are terrified or fearful of the fire—for yourself or others, here is something that you can do that will make it so you can function better. It will help free up your emotions so you can think and act more clearly (it is called Emotional Freedom Techniques—EFT). Please pass it on if you think it might help someone.
You first get in touch with the emotion, for example, fear of the fire. You can change the words to work for you.
Set-up phrase, you would say something like this 3 times while tapping on your Karate Chop point which is on the meaty side of the hand: Even though I am terrified of the fire and what it may do, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.
Then you would tap on the different points (I have attached a chart to help you see where to tap). You could include your own language, and could add things like I am afraid of my house burning up and I don't know what I will do or what ever your fear is or I am terrified and feel so helpless because I am not there.
Here is a link to a chart of the tapping points: http://wayhealthy.us/images/tappingpoints.jpg
Top of Head: I am really terrified about the fire
Inside Eyebrow: repeat this phrase will tapping on all the points
Outside Eye:
Under Eye:
Under Nose:
Chin:
Collarbone:
Under Arm:
Keep repeating until you feel less fear. Then you can tap on the positive.
Top of Head: I choose to feel less fear
Inside Eyebrow: I am feeling calmer
Outside Eye: I release my fear now
Under Eye: I choose to feel calm so I can think better
Under Nose: I choose to release any remaining fear
Chin: I release remaining fear now
Collarbone: My mind is calm and I can think clearly
Under Arm I appreciate how clearly I can think
Of course, you need to use your common sense, and move your body to a safe place. To learn more about EFT, go to www.wayhealthy.us or www.emofree.com.
--JoAnn SkyWatcher

Two Letters from Alicia

From Tuesday, 6/24/08:

Here's a report on my day. The outpouring has been incredibly inspiring! Please forgive the myopia of this update, I've been here at home all day, without news of the larger situation.??Just want you to know what's happening on my little front.

So, the thunderstorm ignited a bunch of fires all over Mendocino County, as well as quite near where I live. Last night when I drove home from town I could see three glowing patches burning on the ridge that stretches along the north side of Greenfield Ranch. It's eerie to see fires so

close, visible from my driveway! Yesterday my neighbors and I were gathered out at the houses most threatened by the fire closest to the Ranch, some defending the fire break at the burn line and others helping build fire breaks at the houses. Today, Cal Fire told us to get things together at our own places, so that's what we did. As far as I know, as of now no houses on Greenfield

have burned.

My dear friends Behr and Jama came down from Humboldt last night to wake up early this morning and start limbing. They worked almost nonstop all day! My house is at the top of a fairly steep forested slope covered with spindly and tightly growing fir trees, Yikes!So we limbed everything we could up to as high as we could, dragging limbs into the meadow in front of my place and trying to keep the fire on the ground and out of the tree tops if it comes through. Mid-morning, a group of young folks neighbors arrived with tons of energy, roving from house to house to help out.

Jutta, Seth, Sam and Jennifer worked for hours limbing and hauling, while Toby kept the equipment running (and brought coffee, thank the lord!). After that, Guy showed up with his crew and a huge bulldozer, and scraped a beautiful (in its way) 20-foot swath of fire break between me and the forest behind my house. Calvin, Dave Hawley, Tommy, and Leo all pitched

in clearing out stuff from under the house. Kiri brought pizza (and more coffee, yay), and Haille and Max pitched in, especially fixing my phone when the dozer accidentally snipped it. I can't thank these folks enough, I am soooo grateful, it is humbling!! Everything is topsy-turvy and strange, the house looks totally different, and so does the future. But hopefully the fires will pass without destroying homes out here, and CalFire will get a handle on this crisis soon. If not, I am deeply inspired by the cooperation and energy of my community, and I know we will come

together to help anyone who faces loss from the fires.

So that's it for now. I'm not planning to evacuate until I have to. The next steps for me are to keep working around here tomorrow, nurse my yellow-jacket stings, and to mobilize when the calls come in, if they come in, to go and defend fire breaks at neighbors' homes. Jude's safe in town tonight with pops. Thanks again to everyone for the help and love. I can't wait to have you all over to celebrate when the fires are out! love, alicia

Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:41:49 -0700

This is such a strange situation. It's kind of like life, but totally not at all too. Now everything is about getting ready.The night time wind is kicking up something fierce right now, which is unnerving. Today CalFire held a briefing for the Greenfield community at the Ranch House, and lots of us crammed into the main room to hear news that was neither good nor bad

about weather patterns and possibilities. We have not been evacuated yet, and no one is really sure what the fire up the canyon will do. My neighbors down the hill Meca and Yarrow, who have a spectacular homestead with many mature fruit trees and decades of restoration work up the canyon that is burning, now have a fire truck stationed at their house. If the fire comes to them, it will not be long before it jumps the creek and heads up to us. Like many others in the County, we cannot depend on firefighters to stop it, as their underresourced efforts are focused on defending structures while having to let fires burn.

We have been working hard to prepare our house, thanks so much to Toby who pushed past reason today, even pulling the chicken coop out with a rope tied to the back of his truck, go testosterone yay!!! But tonight Sequioa emailed that the Ranch House is not defendable, and if that is the case I don't see how my house could possibly be. Still we prepare. If nothing else, all the trash I've been meaning to clean up is out of my back yard at last, and my homestead looks great--even if it's only for a couple of days.

Jeanette writes that most of Montgomery Woods is gone, but Orr Springs is safe. I hauled more bags and boxes to town tonight, and felt the unease of possible homelessness as my stuff got piled up in corners of Toby's house. Journals, clothes, photos, books, recordings, what is important? Tonight I sleep at home, visualizing this awesome cleansing fire getting

tired of itself and burning out. We'll keep on it tomorrow. Lots of people are in this same situation tonight in Mendocino County, and I keep getting stories of amazing cooperation and resolve. Good luck to everyone, may the fire side-step us as it goes by! Lots of love, alicia