Jesusita fire

In Santa Barbara we have what’s called a ‘sundowner wind’. It’s the same as a ‘Santa Ana wind’ in Orange County. However here, it’s a particularly loathsome creature. It only comes out at night, after a cool day, and howls through the canyons and passes, without warning, baking the shore in 100 degree heat until about one or two in the morning. Now, ordinarily, I like this cagey beast ..it allows me to lie on the deck in the evening, or go for a swim in the ocean at midnight. However, it also has the power to take a stray ember from a campfire and turn it into a blazing wildfire that blasts out of the mountains, and tears through town like a blowtorch without stopping until it reaches the shore. And then, just before dawn; it retreats back up into the mountains ..like the nocturnal predator that it is. Morning comes and everything is fine ..except for a few hundred acres of scorched earth and homes. No one knows when it’s coming and no one can stop it when it arrives. It’s like living next to a dragon. This afternoon is perfectly calm ..except for a high-voltage current circulating through my system. I tell my neighbor I think it’s coming back again tonight. He nods and looks up the canyon. Overhead, hawks are circling. “They’re looking for barbecued rats” he says. My nerves fray. We’ve been under evacuation orders for four days. This means that my car is packed and sitting outside the canyon. I defy the order and sit at home awake all night, listening to the drone of water-dropping helicopters rumbling overhead ..and waiting for either smoke ..sirens ..or flames ..to tell me when it’s time to leave ..or else hang around and risk being served as breakfast for hawks at sunrise.

Fire update

Helicopters routinely hover then pass. Still smells like someone had a campfire in my backyard. Mark and Amanda are home after spending the week in Santa Cruz ..she’s expecting and didn’t want to share the air she was inhaling around here. It’s all right now .. our homes were spared. It’s been a hectic week though .. I had roommates who were made homeless by the fire. They’re taken care of .. I’m surprised how quickly that went. They told me that insurance companies subscribe to the ‘broken window’ theory of economics (?) .. the faster they get a neighborhood restored .. the fewer claims they get for theft and vandalism later. I can already hear the sound of hammers pounding ..and a new cycle of teardown and regrowth begins (my way of putting it philosophically).

Tea fire

The sun is setting and you can find me where I usually am during a Santa Ana ..swimming in the ocean. I drive home with the top down through warm night air ..I notice that traffic is a little heavier than usual ..so I take an alternate route ..oblivious. I’m sitting at my laptop when the power goes off ..and switches me to battery. I save what I’m doing and shut down ..still oblivious. I look out the window and it’s pitch black ..too black. I smell what I think is smoke coming from my neighbor’s chimney. I grab a flashlight .. go upstairs and look out my bedroom window. Smoke has blotted out the moon ..and the surrounding hilltops are glowing red. I’m not oblivious anymore. It’s a fire. I run out and see Dr Jones. He tells me that Sycamore Canyon is burning ..and the fire is moving up the side fast. We’re in the canyon next door so, if it jumps the ridge ..we’re toast. From a canyon you don’t get a good perspective so we head over to the high school football stadium to get a bigger picture. I’m sickened by what I see. Smoke is pouring over the top of the range and, behind it, there’s a scarlet red glow stretching all the way from the mountains to the sea. Other people are arriving ..one couple already lost their home ..a camera crew sets up and we’re getting first hand reports. Sycamore canyon, Rattlesnake canyon and East Mountain are in flames ..less that a mile as the crow flies. I tell Dr Jones I’m not going to panic until I see flames burning on top of the ridge. I hear people going ‘ohhhh woooow' and I see flames shooting up from the top of the ridge ..trees combust ..and homes explode. Fire trickles down our side like lava. Someone hollers they’re evacuating anyone living around the bowl. Dr Jones and I head back. Now smoke is pouring out of the canyon where we live ..I feel another wave of panic. His wife is passing out wet towels. I wrap one around my face ..cinders fly ..helicopters circle ..a horse comes running out of nowhere and bolts onto Anapamu Street. Police block traffic and the owner corrals it. Bullhorns give evacuation orders. My eyes are burning and I’m throwing shit in my car. I move it out to Anapamu for a quick get away ..but police shout at me when I try to come back. I go around them by walking up the creek bed. I sit and water my roof until 2:00 am .. firefighters have battled the blaze to a halt just above us. I collapse to my knees in gratitude and pass out on a deck chair.

Fire update

The monks are doing well today ~ tired but well ~ it's hot and windy ~ and they’re on constant fire watch. Funny, they say they're under mandatory evacuation orders ~ as well as hard road closures (?!) ~ which means that, even if they wanted to ~ they're not getting out ~ and no one is getting in ~ they have plenty of supplies ~ the water system has been slightly damaged, but they are getting 5 gallons a day from it which is enough. I sit and think they're going to be OK.

Click on photo to enlarge.
Report from Tassajara. Photo courtesy of ZenCenter.

Tassajara

The atmosphere is still unstable ~ winds shift and flames whip around the Zen center from all sides ~ things may be quiet on the coast ~ but not for the monks at Tassajara ~ unsure which direction the fire will advance ~ they have strategically placed foam packs and sprinklers on the roof ~ jury-rigged from garden supplies the week before ~ but the fire breaches the perimeter on the north side ~ torching the bird house, a compost shed, a wood shed and the pool bathroom ~ the radio-phone and half of the lower garden are also destroyed ~ the sprinkler system keeps working ~ humidity arrives ~ and the flames retreat ~ sparing the rest of the monastery ~ so the monks take refuge ~ for now anyway.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Reports from Steve Harper on the coast and the monks at Tassajara ~ Photo courtesy of ZenCenter

Frontier logic

When the Big Sur fire burned down to ‘Apple Pie Ridge’ ~ just above town ~ a couple of locals stopped it. The Curtis brothers set a controlled burn which saved their home ~ and created a firebreak that spared the town. A fire captain told them they did a great job ~ a crew chief said their work was ‘awesome’ ~ then a forestry official had them arrested ~ saying only firefighters are allowed to do that. Now, I’m no Joe-Frontiersman ~ but I think the Curtis brothers had it right ~ if there’s a fire threatening my house ~ and no firefighters around to save it ~ I believe that makes me the Deputy.

Raw Footage

Fire update

Steve Harper in Big Sur says that the drizzle they were expecting this morning did not come ~ he’s disappointed but goes on to say: “I ~ as much as anyone ~ knows that nature will do what nature does ~ it’s not personal ~ except for the consequences ..” The Monterey Herald says the Big Sur fire grew significantly overnight ~ a thick blanket of fog and smoke covers the town today ~ and there’s no let-up in sight ~ no more properties were lost but the density of undergrowth keeps the fire moving closer to town ~ “sending forest creatures running to the ocean for cover.” Gordon Wheeler at Esalen says: “Big Sur is not just a place ~ it’s a state of mind ~ a spiritual essence that people feel ~ and that fire cannot destroy.” The monks at Tassajara say the fire hasn't moved much closer to them ~ and it’s a cool morning ~ a fire incident report says: ‘Isolated pockets of surface fire with occasional tree torching and moderate behavior due to higher relative humidity.’ A Zen practitioner says: “..fire has always been part of the karma of Big Sur ..it’s a perpetual cycle of cleansing and renewal.” In Santa Barbara, the sundowner winds arrived last night causing the fire to grow to about 5,400 acres ~ this morning it was so fierce that firefighters had to take refuge in the homes they were fighting to defend ~ it is burning in a canyon full of century old chaparral ~ 15-20 feet tall ~ I like to tell my neighbors we’re breathing the ashes of our ancestors ~ they just look at me funny.

Fire update

The sundowner wind didn’t develop last night ~ thank goodness ~ but the fire doubled in size ~ it’s about 2,400 acres now ~ I detect a slight onshore breeze ~ which is a good sign ~ the weather forecast says that ‘monsoonal moisture’ is a possibility ~ an even better sign ~ I go online to check on my friends in Big Sur ~ Steve Harper says 3 houses were lost last night above Ventana inn ~ and the fire burned down to apple pie ridge ~ but locals managed to stop it ~ then an amazing thing happened, he says ~ the forecast changed drastically from what was predicted ~ and from what is normal ~ to a slight chance of drizzle tonight and tomorrow ~ with marine air coming from the west and northwest ~ which is good new for the folks in Big Sur ~ but bad news for the monks at Tassajara Monastery ~ where the winds could push the fire deeper into the wilderness ~ and closer to them ~ and I’m like ‘sure hope the drizzle Steve sees on the coast travels far enough inland to reach the monastery’ ~ meanwhile, I’m sitting under dark amber-orange smoke ~ that’s billowing ~ getting darker ~ and covering the sky ~ because the wind has shifted direction in the time that I’ve been sitting here ~ it's turned from an onshore breeze into a ‘Santa Ana’ condition ~ blowing from the mountains to the sea ~ and turning daytime into nighttime a lot earlier than usual ~ it looks like Armageddon ~ I am outta here.

Fire update

I’m getting news about the Big Sur fire from a laptop on my deck ~ the Monterey Herald says hundreds have fled their homes as flames blaze out-of-control ~ my friend Steve Harper says neighbors were calmly evacuated so fire fighters could do a controlled burn ~ another friend, Bill Herr, says he could see flames above Esalen for the first time ~ and an occasional pine combust into a tower of fire ~ and John Callaghan just learned that sheriffs have served mandatory evacuation orders ~ everybody must be out by 6 in the morning ~ and at Tassajara, monks say the fire is still burning but hasn’t gotten any closer ~ I look away from the laptop ~ and realize the sun has been blotted out by a dark shade of amber ~ and I’m like what the fuck ~ I shake my head hoping my eyes are playing tricks on me ~ showing after-images of the Big Sur fire that I’ve just spent the morning watching ~ no such luck ~ I call Michael who says there’s a fire burning above Santa Barbara ~ Glen Annie Canyon in Goleta to be exact ~ and a Sundowner wind is expected tonight ~ like a Santa Ana wind in LA ~ it’ll blow hot air and fire out of the canyons and down the coastal side of the mountains where all the homes are ~ so it looks like I’ll be spending the night tracking wind reports ~ because I certainly won’t be getting any sleep.

Image: Smoke over rooftops in Santa Barbara

Fire on the mountain

My sanctuary is under fire ~ and if the wind changes direction ~ it’ll be toast. Tassajara is a Zen monastery located in the Big Sur wilderness ~ 14 miles from the nearest paved road ~ and surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest ~ which is on fire right now. I’ve been receiving messages over the Internet from people who live nearby. Apparently evacuation orders were issued ~ but the monks chose to stay ~ setting up barricades ~ and a sprinkler system ~ among other things. So, the local sheriff asked them to provide the names of their dentist ~ for identification ~ and a team of firefighters has taken up residence ~ being fed in the monastery kitchen ~ mainly rice and vegetables. Although Buddhist monks are known for self-sacrifice ~ they’re no fools ~ if things get too dangerous they’re going to bail alongside the firefighters ~ none of them wants to risk their life to save a building ~ that’s not where they’re at. Nevertheless, my heart grieves ~ admittedly for the loss that I may suffer ~ but also for the residents of Big Sur who have already lost their homes. One person I heard from says that my other sanctuary ~ the Esalen Institute ~ is safe for now ~ even so ~ they’ve been ordered to evacuate as well.

Click on photo to enlarge

Photo courtesy of ZenCenter

Ash Friday

The darkest part of the day is around noon ..the sky is a gloomy shade of black and orange ..the colors of Halloween .. heavy metal goth ..or doom ..there’s a fire in the mountains ..and an onshore flow from the ocean ..creating an eerie glow ..ashes fall like snow ..piling up on my shoulders ..and going up my nose ..I choke, spit, bitch and moan ..while Laura looks up ..she was in Mexico City during the earthquake of ’85 ..and says ashes also fell from the sky ..and I’m like ..from what, a volcano ? and she says no, from broken gas lines and burning people ..I cringe ..how ghastly that must have been ..yea, she says ..but not when you stop to consider how we’re always inhaling the molecules of our ancestors ..and I’m thinking ..how metaphysical.

Fire

orange sky at noon
fire breathing dragon of doom
solar nostrils flare
balls of fire soar
igniting the chaparral below
smoke rises
blocking the sun and moon
life on the line
can turn on a dime
but to make it stop
starve the beast
that’s the ticket
not much to eat
on a blackened mountaintop