That particular fire ...
It started near Hwy 101, 20-mi to the west of here. From there the fire moved eastward, indicating the general direction of the wind.
Forty five minutes later another fire started several miles south of the first fire along Hwy 101. In my mind, that spells arson, as that is too much of a coincidence, as the wind could not possibly explain that. Each fire had its own name, but the combination of the two was called the Mendocino Complex Fire. The part on my side of Hwy 20 was the Ranch Fire. By the time it was over, that fire had the distinction of becoming the largest fire in California history.
A few years earlier there were fires at the south end of Clear Lake, which is not very far south of here, and I do a lot of shopping at Lakeport which is on the west side of that lake and roughly halfway down to the town of Clear Lake. Those fires were repeated during, I think, a 3-year period. About a year after that an arson was arrested for (I think) having started at least two of those fires.
I have a friend visiting now from Novato. He usually stays here for the better part of three days. He used to be a technician of mine when I was still working as an engineer. One of his hobbies is flying a remote control helicopter having a high-resolution movie camera which can also take still pictures. The sun decided to come out for awhile so he took off with his chopper in his car with the idea of getting some shots of the 100-ft waterfall just off the north end of the property. He's also going to use the chopper to research the path of Cooper Creek a bit because another hobby of his is gold panning, and for that he has a small portable sluice -- I don't remember if it is gas powered or battery.
Because of his visit, I've stayed in cash so far this week. Not a bad idea, as I see the market is having a brain fart today. Well, I was planning on staying in cash for a few days anyway unless I saw something juicy happen that doesn't smell like a bull trap.
If you ever feel like visiting this area, let me know. You'd always be welcome.
AI
