I am very sad to report that the hills and mountains on the East and West sides of the Napa Valley have been on fire for the last two weeks. The fires are now out except for some hot spots and we are beginning to access the damage. The Mount Veeder area where I used to live and where I meet Bold and Shy ravens was very hard hit by the fire storm. Looking at the county map of impacted areas I can see that neighbors on both sides and across the street lost their homes to fire. The Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind across the way was destroyed. Bold and Shy spent a good deal of their time at the camp- cawing and clacking at the blind patrons. I am so sad. I loved the camp and my former home. We had put so much work and money into it to make it what it became. I hoped that the two ladies that bought the house enjoyed it as much as we did. It is hard to believe it has been reduced to a pile of ash. Mt. Veeder Rd. is still closed so most people have not been able to access their properties to see the damage. If you are a grape grower you can get an agricultural pass to let you access your property. My next door neighbor up there was able to do that. His facility for winemaking burned but his house did not. The fire skipped around based on the wind direction. His two big water tanks full of water burned down- amazing. So at least his house was spared. It appears the little cabins that we rented up there in the summer months so that I could play with Bold and Shy have also burned down.
I hope and pray that Bold and Shy were able to fly away from the fire. We will know eventually. We will hear their calls eventually if they are still alive. Oh God of Earth and Sky I hope they are ok.
My lone raven here where I live now has attracted a mate. So there are now two noisy ravens calling to me each morning for FOOD! What I find interesting is that these ravens do not like raw chicken eggs very much. They will take one once in awhile but usually they are left for the grey fox. The fox visits toward twilight. What they like is MEAT and FAT. They really like chicken fat. I trim it off chicken thighs and then they have a feast. Today they got raw bacon strips since I am clearing out the refrigerator. The fire storm started on a Sunday night about 11 PM when the wind from hell started up. I could not sleep all night for the banging of branches against the windows and the sounds of the howling winds. The next morning the power was out/cell towers down/no house phone working. The power was off for two days. We took our frozen food to a friends house. I was cat sitting for her so we got to use her phone and TV and refrigerator. Now I am sorting out what to discard from the refrigerator and the bacon had to go even though the refrigerator remainder very cold. So raven gets a good treat and will get some chicken fat tomorrow. What lucky ravens they are. I continue to get to know the local ravens Sometimes the raven sits up in my neighbors giant deodar tree and makes racket. I call back. We do this for some amount of time. We enjoy it the raven and I. Not so much the neighbors? They never say.
Well if this posting seems disjointed it is because I am still not ok after this fire. Too many friends lost their homes and things will never be the same. We went to the Reunion of the Decade of the 1960's for Napa High School yesterday. We saw many old friends and the talk was all about the fire and who had been burned out. It was very upsetting. We left after lunch and took a ride up the valley to Calistoga. It was a beautiful day, the air was clear and clean and the valley is still a lovely place. You can see some blackened burned spots on the hillsides but other than that it looks about the same. As soon as the rains come the grasses and wildflowers will follow and the burned areas will disappear. The earth will repair itself, the fireweed will bloom and wine will be made and RAVENS will fly once again over the valley and in the hills.
I hope and pray that Bold and Shy were able to fly away from the fire. We will know eventually. We will hear their calls eventually if they are still alive. Oh God of Earth and Sky I hope they are ok.
My lone raven here where I live now has attracted a mate. So there are now two noisy ravens calling to me each morning for FOOD! What I find interesting is that these ravens do not like raw chicken eggs very much. They will take one once in awhile but usually they are left for the grey fox. The fox visits toward twilight. What they like is MEAT and FAT. They really like chicken fat. I trim it off chicken thighs and then they have a feast. Today they got raw bacon strips since I am clearing out the refrigerator. The fire storm started on a Sunday night about 11 PM when the wind from hell started up. I could not sleep all night for the banging of branches against the windows and the sounds of the howling winds. The next morning the power was out/cell towers down/no house phone working. The power was off for two days. We took our frozen food to a friends house. I was cat sitting for her so we got to use her phone and TV and refrigerator. Now I am sorting out what to discard from the refrigerator and the bacon had to go even though the refrigerator remainder very cold. So raven gets a good treat and will get some chicken fat tomorrow. What lucky ravens they are. I continue to get to know the local ravens Sometimes the raven sits up in my neighbors giant deodar tree and makes racket. I call back. We do this for some amount of time. We enjoy it the raven and I. Not so much the neighbors? They never say.
Well if this posting seems disjointed it is because I am still not ok after this fire. Too many friends lost their homes and things will never be the same. We went to the Reunion of the Decade of the 1960's for Napa High School yesterday. We saw many old friends and the talk was all about the fire and who had been burned out. It was very upsetting. We left after lunch and took a ride up the valley to Calistoga. It was a beautiful day, the air was clear and clean and the valley is still a lovely place. You can see some blackened burned spots on the hillsides but other than that it looks about the same. As soon as the rains come the grasses and wildflowers will follow and the burned areas will disappear. The earth will repair itself, the fireweed will bloom and wine will be made and RAVENS will fly once again over the valley and in the hills.
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