Author Archives: John

Miramonte

Posted on September 13, 2015 | 4 comments

 

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The prospect of having to gather this country ahead of the Rough Fire is daunting.

 

4 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

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Smoke in the Valley

Posted on September 12, 2015 | 15 comments

 

7:20 a.m., Sept. 11, 2015

7:20 a.m., Sept. 11, 2015

Smoke continues to get worse throughout the Valley as the Rough Fire moves within a mile of the 2,000 year-old General Grant Tree and grove of giant Sequoias, also threatening the communities of Wilsonia and Pinehurst as it moves up the Mill Creek drainage, and towards the town of Dunlap on the western edge of the fire. Currently consuming 128,000 acres in the Kings River watershed with only 29% containment, the fire is expected to burn rapidly through the drought and pine beetle impacted timber today. Cost to date to fight the fire, that began with a single tree struck by lightening on July 31st, approaches $80 million. 2,570 personnel, 14 helicopters and 18 dozers battle the blaze in rough terrain.

Mandatory evacuation orders have kept Dry Creek Road busy. We helped haul four gooseneck loads of horses and mules from Miramonte yesterday, the last of the stock removed from the Cedar Grove Pack Station ahead of the fire that now burns upcanyon past Hotel Creek and towards Granite Lake. Park and pack station structures were saved.

 

Miramonte - 10:00 a.m., September 11, 2015

Miramonte – 10:00 a.m., September 11, 2015

Cooler weather is forecasted after today and into next week that should help firefighting efforts.

 

Rough Fire

 

15 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

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OPENING

Posted on September 11, 2015 | 3 comments

 

For a moment,
we succumb,
give in, yield

to our senses,
to the unknown—
forgetting everyone

we have been
or may ever be—
to let each second

wash over us
as we consume
each detail

that becomes
our flesh melting
into timelessness

gone beyond
any hope
to hold its shape,

waiting to explore
that prolonged moment
as if in the womb again.

 

 

Rough Fire

3 Comments

Posted in Poems 2015, Ranch Journal

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The Farmers Almanac vs. El Niño Predictions

Posted on September 10, 2015 | 5 comments

 

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                    Pacific Southwest Summary:
 

 

Although the early part of the winter season will feature above normal rainfall, the drought will continue as rainy periods will diminish in the season’s second half and precipitation will be below-normal for the winter season as a whole, with below-normal mountain snows not helping ease the drought. The stormiest periods will be in mid- to late November, early to mid-December, early January, and early March. Overall, temperatures will be slightly cooler than normal. The coldest period will be in late December, with other cold periods in early and late January and mid-February.

April and May will be cooler and slightly rainier than normal.

Summer will be hotter than normal, with near-normal rainfall. The hottest periods will be in early June, early to mid- and late July, and early to mid- and late August.

September and October will be slightly cooler than normal, with near-normal rainfall.

Facing continued smoke from the Rough Fire and 110 degrees before week’s end, we’re looking forward to the end of summer.

 

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Posted in Ranch Journal

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DRAGONFLY

Posted on September 9, 2015 | 3 comments

 

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Here but a moment,
no time to light on laurels—
fly until you die.

 

3 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2015, Photographs

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PAST

Posted on September 8, 2015 | 2 comments

 

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Yearning is an easy look
backwards, a slow-moving canvas
colored to taste, shaded by habit.

Our war whoops but echoes
fading in canyons on trails of broken
brush long-overgrown, mocking

our wild-eyed blindness
since sharpened and tempered
by scars upon scars and time.

Now is the moment we begin
to be all we can—to revel
in its rich accomplishment.

 

2 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015

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Rough Fire Update

Posted on September 8, 2015 | 6 comments

 

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Rough Fire

95,000+ acres
31% containment
$67 million

 

6 Comments

Posted in Photographs

SIGN OF SOMETHING

Posted on September 7, 2015 | 12 comments

 
The pair of eagles
returning early to ride
our foothill thermals

elicits surprise:
‘what do they know that we don’t?’
we agree to say.

No water, no place
to fish in a four-year drought—
it must be something.

 

12 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2015, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal

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Weekly Photo Challenge: CONNECTED

Posted on September 5, 2015 | 5 comments

 

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To the earth, to us
all awakened with the warm
milk of motherhood.

 

5 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2015, Photographs

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The Weather

Posted on September 4, 2015 | 3 comments

 

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It’s difficult, after four years of drought, to think in terms of rain. Making preparations for a wet winter may offend the superstitious, or seem contrary to the priorities of recent years, but Daniel Swain’s blog offers a most comprehensive forecast for the coming months. Should California be the target of a “Record-strength El Niño,” its impact on the West may be exacerbated by current and recent wildfires.

 

Rough Fire

83,000+ acres
25% containment
@ Cedar Grove, Converse Basin, Buck Rock Lookout

 

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Posted in Ranch Journal

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