I finally have re-connected my
computer, so I can send and receive e-mail. Contrary to the article in the
Sentinel, we had no intention whatsoever of evacuating. The only reason I
packed up a number of irreplaceable things, like Lud's diaries and weather
records was that a friend of ours came by, graciously offered to take care of
our horses at his place for a period of time, and pushed and prodded me to
evacuate. I finally gave up and packed some irreplaceables in my car, but
would not leave. Lud had signed a liability release for Cal
Fire, in case we were injured or killed. Lud knows a huge amount about
fire behavior, and if he wasn't afraid, I wasn't going to be, either.
Oddly, I was never afraid, worried, or nervous. Somewhere in life, I
learned not to stress over things beyond my control, and this fire certainly was
one of those situations. Lud and I dug in some fire trails,
along with a few neighbors, but in the end, a flaming tree fell over
and set off another fire that finally burned up Ken McCrary's water tank.
The tree fell right on the spot that Lud's pickup had been parked a couple of
hours earlier.
Tonight, Lud pumped 100 gallons of
water into our tank, I re-lit the water heater, and believe me, hot running
water is a real luxury.
As for the burned out trails, not to
worry. Next spring, or the one after, everything will be beautiful
again. The back country was far too overgrown with brush, old knobcone
pines, and downed trees. There had not been a fire here since
1948.
I told someone I have lived in
Swanton for 59 years, and I have been preparing for this situation, mentally,
emotionally, psychologically, for all that time. As each year went by, I
thought maybe a fire of this magnitude would not happen in my lifetime.
But happen it did, and I guess I must have been ready for it.
the trails, the homes, they come and goand of those
things we have the memories. The important thing is that in this fire we
have lost none of our friends, Human or Equine and for that we have to be
greatfull.
There is a huge article in today's San Jose Mercury about the
McCrary's. It features Bud and Emma who are Barbara's brother in law
and his wife. It has pictures and a lot of other really interesting
stuff. I could tell from the maps that most of the old Castle Rock
trail was gone. That is just so sad. I rode that trail on a lot
of rides...................mb
From: Marinera@xxxxxxx Date: Sat,
15 Aug 2009 13:03:52 -0400 Subject: [RC] The McCrarys To:
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have just talked at length to Barbara McCrary who asked
me to send a message to Ridecamp that all family members and their homes are
okay. All animals are okay. Barbara and Lud's property has been 85 to
90% burned to a crisp. Most of the old Castle Rock Trail is
gone. The fire continues with only 15% containment, but it is no
longer a threat in Barbara's immediate vicinity. They have no phone service
other than cell. Their water tank is empty. I asked what we
could do to help, and apparently, at the moment, there is nothing.
Julie
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