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Re: [RC] [RC] moving to CA from NY - Dave SmithLucy: You forgot deer ticks and lime disease. My sister-in-law contracted the disease from a tick (don't know whether horses are susceptible) and it is really no joke. She nearly died. She's finally recovering after three years of feeling really miserable. During the hot months, make it a ritual to check yourself and your kids and pets for ticks. Learn what a deer tick looks like (we've got other kinds too.) Forest fires are another concern. Like the other writers noted, clear the brush and grass from around your home. California has a Mediterranean climate. That means that it rains for six months and then is bone dry for six. Fire is part of the natural ecology of California. September through November are the really dangerous months. In prehistoric times, Indian people here routinely used fire to shape their environment, using is for such diverse purposes as clearing their camp sites of unwanted brush to burning out trees that compete with oaks (acorns were their staple.) Pressure your local fire authorities to embrace prescription burning and mechanical fuel removal. For far too long we've kept fire from doing its job. Now our forests are essentially artificially cluttered with underbrush that helps spread not only fire but bark beetles and other critters that kill trees. Despite all this, however, you're going to love it here. I wouldn't live anywhere else. --Dave in Auburn Lucy Chaplin Trumbull <elsietee@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 3/25/2005 3:30:01 PM Hey Jeanette (Jay?) Well, I moved here from England ten years ago and you can't get much more of a culture shock, but I adore it here. Any thoughts, advice etc onanything about CA and what > it is like to live out therehot :)> what the environment is like for kids.You might try and contact Becky Hackworth who lives inCoarsegold (which sounds like it might be close to whereyou're going to end up). She has children (several) andrides endurance.> I understand I have to put up with rattlesnakes, > enteroliths, sand colics, hard to find grass hay> and of course the usual CA issues of earthquakes, > floods, and fires.Poison oak - you forgot to mention the poison oak.And Bay Watch girls in bikinis littering up the place.You can hardly walk for tripping over them. Plus crazy people. We're supposed to have a lot of them here, too.Seriously, of the above:* rattlesnakes: the worst luck is to have your horse bitten by one. I've only heard first hand of this happening to one person, and she's in TX. When I've met them on the trail, the horse is disinterested... as is the snake quite often.* enteroliths: don't feed straight alfalfa. But being an endurance rider, you knew that.* sand colics: no, that's Florida/Nevada. We have clay in CA, not sand. Unless of course you're planningon moving to the Bay Watch set.* hard to find grass hay: I've never had a problemfinding it. Paying for it, yes - it can get pricey(~$10-13 a 110 lb bale) - but not hard to find.* earthquakes: I lived in the Bay Area for six monthsand never felt an earthquake. In ten years, I've felttwo. They were interesting and made the table lamp rattle. Hardly a reason for avoiding moving to thestate.West coast CA suffers much more than the east sideof the state.* Flood: never build anything in or near "Dry Creek"or "Rio Seco" and you should be fine. Don't live at the bottom of a steep hillside.* Fires: Ah, now, this is the only thing you do seriouslyneed to think about. Keep your property clear of brush,and make sure you have defensible space around it, plusan escape plan, and you should be fine. But it is theprice we pay for all that sunshine and empty space.> ...It all seems worth it to me...But maybe I am missing something?nope. Unless you count the poison oak...there have been times with that when I wonder.... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lucy Chaplin Trumbull elsietee AT foothill DOT net Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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