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Helen Megan

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Helen Megan

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Elvon & Helen – in exile in Carmel

24 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Elvon’s transfers are getting sloppier and sloppier, and more likely to injure both of us.  Saturday night, he just rose and dove over the side of the wheelchair, to get into bed, instead of steadying himself on the night stand.  The result of this was me leaping over the back of the chair to catch his butt and lift his legs onto the bed.   My back hurts but it wasn’t permanent damage.  I did a bunch of exercises promptly. My fear factor is rising, as his abilities decline.

Kenny and Maria, from across the street, came for dinner Sunday night.  To me, cooking is worth it to get the company. They are a very nice young couple, living with Kenny’s parents, because his mother had a stroke and her care is too much for his father.  Elvon only made one successful transfer today, and that was to his wheelchair for breakfast, which was about 1:30 pm.  I couldn’t get him back on the bed for his afternoon nap.  Kenny had to help him into bed on Sunday night.

I found out yesterday, that Cyprus Ridge, the Rehab Care Center down here,  I had hopes would take Elvon, will not.  The fax they received from our doctor, clearly says “Severe Dementia” and there are a rehabilitation center.  They are supposed to put him back out in the world on the road to viability.  They were helpful with leads.

I followed up with “The Cottages of Carmel”, who have Assisted Living and Memory care, just like FGL.  Memory Care is full, the last place having gone to a fire evacuee.  They would consider Assisted Living, for a month,  if they could find some furniture.  I had the doc send over the order and went to bed praying.  This morning they reviewed the doctor’s orders and had to refuse us on the grounds of “Severe Dementia”.  They could only take him in Memory Care, and that, they had none of.

Meanwhile, I was pursuing home care options and I think I have scored on that, but I don’t have our appointment yet.  The outfit is “Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice”  I like working with that organization.  It’s Medicare Certified and not for profit.

They should call me this afternoon and come tomorrow.  They will only come three times a week for an hour or so, but it should be enough for me to get him cleaned up and the bed changed.  The reality is that I will probably have to keep him bedridden until we get back to the Lodge.

I would have far preferred to be with the rest of the residents in Albany, but it was not to be.  While I was well ahead of the curve in getting us out and keeping us safe, we seem to be behind it now, as our real need developed later.

Enough of us.  We have fine friends and a very comfortable roof over our beleaguered heads.  And, soon, we will have help.

Susan Jones was the Police Chief in Healdsburg, before she and Toni retired to Fountaingrove Lodge.  I just got her Facebook post of how they evacuated.  It’s worth a read:

From Susan on FB:

Well, it’s been 2 weeks since we were rousted out of bed by a friend who had called us at 1:00 am on the 9th to tell us to evacuate immediately because the fire was across the street from us.

We jumped up, grabbed a few things just when the power went out. We leashed the dogs and headed for the front door, hearing a knock at the door and finding Ralph, one of our residents, who told us to “Evacuate NOW!” We left immediately, heading for our RV which was parked outside of the garage. When we opened the door to the outside, the smoke was thick with burning embers flying past our faces. We had to direct our flashlights down so we could see the ground and know where we were stepping. The wind was blowing so hard, we couldn’t hear each other. We made it to Bianca (our RV) and pulled out of the complex literally driving by memory of where the road was because we couldn’t see it. Too much smoke.

We thought we’d head north, since we knew plenty of people in Healdsburg but were turned away at the freeway entrance because the fire had jumped 101. We headed south on 101 passing dozens of emergency vehicles heading north. So odd not to be one of them. So odd to be a victim, not the first responder.

We pulled off in Rohnert Park, spending the night in the Home Depot parking lot. Initially, we were one of 7 or 8 cars, but within the next few hours, the parking lot was full and the Home Depot employees were rolling out shopping carts full of water bottles to all of us there. Toni’s cousins, Sharon Long, Rae Lynne and Aunt Rosalie joined us there. It was a long night, but fortunately, we had a bathroom. Thank God for Bianca!

Since then, we have stayed with friends in Healdsburg, until making the decision to leave for fresher air on the 12th. We spent one night in Fort Bragg, then decided to find more permanent lodging since we have our dogs with us and rain was expected. We drove south to Manhattan Beach, then settled in Carlsbad, where we’ve been since the 17th. It’s a nice area and the air is clear.

Bill Baird’s interview on the main lodge evacuation: http://sfbaytimes.com/fountaingrove-lodge-survives-north-bay-fires-interview-resident-bill-baird/

We have since learned that our friend, Mary, lost her home in this fire. In fact, the whole neighborhood next to us is gone, and the neighborhood next to them. Fountaingrove Lodge is still standing but we’re not allowed to go back. The latest update is that we may be allowed in sometime between Nov. 6th and the 20th. We’ll be making our way back this Saturday, as we plan to stay in San Ramon at the Residence Inn there for a week or so. It’ll be nice to be back in the bay area and to visit friends. We miss everyone!

Well that’s it – Plans are Fluid

22 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Gil and Sandy Mercier offered a bolt-hole in France.  Such wonderful friends we have, and France did look good to me.  Rod and Claude Anderson offered Montreal and Florida, too.  But, Elvon is not very mobile, so none of these is an option for him.  We are making do pretty well in the Carmel Highlands, at the lovely home of Candy and Ernie Scalberg.  I’ll be happy to get back to assisted living, though.

Ulla and John Brown made a more practical offer.  They have a house in Palm Desert, to which they have retreated, as their Napa house hurned to the ground.  As of yesterday, when I wrote this, we were hoping for Belmont Village in Albany, near Berkeley, where we would get all the services we have at the Lodge.  It looks like we will be moving back to the Lodge around the middle of November.

What some of you may not understand is that Elvon is post-Polio and has Alzheimers’, which his doctor rates as “severe dementia”.  His left leg is essentially useless, and he cannot always command the other one.  He does not consistently understand that you have to push down on a walker.  Sometimes he tries to get into it by pulling up.  Other times, it’s fine.  Friday night, I had to call the Fire Department at 1:00 am, to get him off the toilet.  This is why we need assisted living.  I am not enough of an assist, by myself.

Sunday morning, just now, I spoke to Robert May, Executive Director, Fountaingrove Lodge.  The news is not great from that end.  Robert is working at the Albany facility, Belmont Villages, and he doesn’t exactly have us moving in the day after tomorrow.  Elvon is too much of a care.  So, they would put him in their Memory Care building, if there is space, and charge appropriately.  Some money would come back from Fountaingrove Lodge, but we will still be paying most of our rent here.  It looks like the plan I started last week, including getting him into Cyprus Ridge Care Center, is the better one.  I started that last Monday, but it got stalled, when our own doctor was unreachable to fax the workup.  He was affected by the Napa fires, of course.  I’ll get back on that first thing Monday morning.  Robert is pretty sure that’s our solution.

So, that’s it for a beautiful Sunday morning in Carmel.  I only got up at 10:45 am.  My nights are weird.  There’s always a break in the middle, where Elvon needs me for an hour or so, and it takes me another hour to read myself back down.  I am letting myself sleep in, because I know how important it is to keep my strength up.  So far, so good.

Well, That’s It – Voice Mail

20 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Today, I checked voice mail, on a whim, not because it told me I had anything, just a whim.  There were 17 messages waiting.  They were there because, there are no bars in this house except a wine bar.  It’s a great house, in Carmel, overlooking the ocean.  It’s comfortable and the air is clean.  HOWEVER, Calling my cell phone will not reach me until we move somewhere else.  My cell phone does not tell me there are messages waiting either.  Sorry, guys.

A number of your voice mails told me you were happy I was back in Santa Rosa.  That’s not true, either.  The greeting is left over from when we came back from Montreal.  I tried to change it and its instructions were so convoluted that I couldn’t figure them out.  Where’s the turn off/turn on of voice mail?  I was able to change it to a generic greeting.  That doesn’t give me a chance to record the best number to reach me.  It’s 831-626-4516.

Thank you all for your concern.  It is nice to know we are loved and cared about.  I’ll return your calls one by one, when I get a chance.  Elvon is requiring a lot more care here, and is losing ground with his transfers to and from the wheelchair.  It can take me an hour to get him from the bed to the wheelchair.  And, tonight, we are having the neighbors in for dinner, so can’t return calls them.  BTW, they are Hope and Sandy Hale, who were on the Barge on the Canal de Bourgogne, and will be joining us on the Shannon river in 2018. Looking forward to being social, again.

We will be moving into some form of assisted living, as soon as Oakmont, Fountaingrove Lodge’s parent, can liberate a spot for us.  That will be some time next week, I guess, it is 4:40 pm on Friday, and they haven’t called yet. When we go, we will likely be there until mid-November, as our home gets decontaminated.  It’s a process.

Well that’s it – Fire Tornadoes

19 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Our fire has been explained, and it’s terrifying.  There were fire tornadoes and they came right straight at us.  Here’s the map, from the San Francisco Chronicle.  :

FireMap171018

Our home, Fountaingrove Lodge, is located under the lower black arrow in the tornado graphic.  At midnight on Sunday night, we, with Pat and Mike drove down Fountaingrove Parkway and turned right onto 101.  We drove through thick smoke, with flames on the right shoulder, where you see the red arrow.  Somebody up there likes us, a lot.

You can read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/ybjtw5a5

The wineries of Napa are reporting in.  The ones that are back in business and donating all or part of their tasting room fees are, Miner in Oakville, 100% of tasting fees, 25% of sales going to Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund. Silver Trident 100% of tasting fees to  The North Bay Fire Relief Fund, ZD donating 50% of all tasting fees to the Napa Valley Community Foundation supporting the fire relief efforts.  Chapellet and Frog’s Leap also reported in safe and back in business.

We are healthy, except for smoke inhalation, but I am losing the battle to keep Elvon smart and strong enough to do the transfers he needs to do.  So, we will be moving to Belmont in Albany, as soon as our Lodge Management can guarantee I won’t be driving all that way for nothing.  They will tell us tomorrow, I hope.  I have been talking to Marissa, our wonderful nurse.

Well that’s it, and then it may not be

18 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

I am still passing on that which comes my way, as a few of you have thanked me for that.

Belonging to Vintners’ Collective got me this:

Bob Almeida from Lagniappe let us know that they had extensive fire damage on their property. Their guest house burned, as did a car, three outbuildings, and half of their vines.  We were also very sad to learn that Shirley Roy lost her home and all buildings on the property. Her home, which Shirley and her late husband Charles purchased from legendary golfer Johnny Miller, was also where Roy’s offices were located and where guests to Roy Estate have been hosted since the winery’s beginning.

Gordon Huether, who has a workshop and gallery on Monticello, wrote:

To our friends and colleagues: We are so grateful to be able to write to you today! Our Studio was spared by the Northern California wildfires and we are happy to share that we are back and open for business! In an effort to help getting this beautiful Valley back on its feet, we encourage you to visit Napa Valley, spend a few days here and support the many local businesses that have been affected by this natural disaster.Though the aftermath of this tragedy will be felt for a long time to come, we feel extremely fortunate to remain unscathed

The Napa Valley Opera House, with our potties in it, is unharmed, but, like the Lodge, needs a lot of work.  They plan to reopen with shows, November 7.  They will need your support, and some good entertainment will be what you need, too.

Speaking of shows, there will be fundraisers aplenty for Fire victims:

  You can help California wine regions recover from devastating wildfires:

  • Attend fire relief fundraising events. Look for the #CAWineStrong hashtag.
  • Post fire relief fundraising events. Go here. When you write the “event name,” include #CAWineStrong.

http://www.localwineevents.com/  has Napa events.  No specific Sonoma Events yet

The Scalbergs are at their time share in Hawaii. Ernie sent a couple of photos.  This one is looking toward the ocean.ScalbergsHawaiiSmlaller171017

Ernie reports “We arrived in time for free ice cream cones and gusty winds. The wind is keeping the temperature comfortable but it can blow a golf ball right off the green. Supposed to calm by Thursday.  Tough days in paradise. In the meantime we have discovered some new restaurants.  More hard work ahead.”

We are still at their house in Carmel, and likely will be for the duration.  As long as I can keep Elvon strong enough, in mind and body, to effect his wheelchair transfers, we are good here.

I got 9 hours of sleep last night, after CalFire reported our nearest fire was 100% contained.  Now there’s one growing in San Jose, but that’s at least 50 miles away.  I have a lot of faith in our wonderful first responders, especially as the y are 11,000 strong. This fire is 200 acres and 5% contained, and it looks tiny to me.

Well, that’s it – We hope

16 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Well there we were, all settled down in Carmel, when I saw another fire yesterday, as I came out of Safeway, with a six-pack of wine and the fixings for a chicken dinner.  It was at Ford Ord, 26 miles away, and its progress was stopped by suppertime, when it had burned only 31.5 acres. Never thought I’d be using “only” in that sentence, but when upwards of 200,000 acres went up in Napa and Sonoma…

We had a lovely last dinner with Candy and Ernie, who left for Hawaii this morning.  I did not sleep too well, for worrying, but otherwise, we are very comfortable at Candy and Ernie’s house, where there was a huge fire close by last year, so it doesn’t have much to feed on.

Here’s a bit of news from the Lodge:  Bill Allen was part of the layman group of two, early Monday morning, and able to identify our chicken coop to be saved.  They thought it was for storage.  Not sure about the bees. Advised firemen of our rear building vegetation and tree make up when noting hot spots.  They immediately sent four guys to rake and water to save our precious FGL.  We even used buckets filled with swimming pool water in this effort. Can’t say enough referencing our firemen, who worked so hard in saving FGL, OUTSTANDING.

We are, indeed, eternally grateful to our first responders, a finer group of guys cannot be found.

Over in Napa, Pati Simon reports:

I just got a call from Carol Kieschnick.  She shared a tale of heroism:  Deborah Robertson’s son and friends saved her home, as well as the Robertsons’ during the fire.  Carol wants everyone to know how incredibly grateful she is for their bravery and generosity of spirit.

And Carol wants everyone to know how badly she feels for those who did lose their homes.  Carol’s home is in escrow and has not fallen out as of today.

Yesterday’s fire in Monterey, the York Fire, is officially out as per CalFire’s map, and there’s not another within 100 miles.  We’ll sleep tonight.  Not that it has ever bothered Elvon.  That man can sleep through anything.

Well That’s It – Good News for a Change

15 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

This is a pot-pourri of exerpts from emails.  We don’t get much local news here, and it’s fine with us, at this point.  Facebook and email are informing us.

Susan Harris wrote: “Good news, PG & E expect to have power back to the Lodge by Monday night.  Pat called earlier and left a message, a Lodge resident sneaked in with some type of crew to the property and reported no damage. He said The Lodge looked great, all things considered, and it barely smelled of smoke.  This sounds encouraging!

Taura Anderson got a report from our grounds people and “Mike says the chicken coop and chickens survived.  He thinks someone fed them and that they’ve been taken elsewhere. He has been walking the property and putting out hotspots that had appeared. So, we can be grateful to the firefighters on the first day Monday morning…AND to Mike who, for the next couple days, kept the hot spots down. He is headed to Albany today I think to help out with our folks from The Terraces. He watered our resident gardens before he left. He says those gardens are intact. WHAT A GUY! Thank you…Thank You.”

Kyle Nyholm, our Head Groundskeeper posted: “Nothing burned in the garden. Fruit Trees are the same, same amount of peppers and tomatoes, some of the tomatoes fell over. Chickens are fine, have food and water. Pulled up the squash and zukes 2 weeks ago. Compost burned, which the 2 to the right were not great compost materials anyway. Easy to fix. Rest of the property is easy to fix, not much damaged with landscaping. Little damage to the building if at all. Faint smell of smoke inside but nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Scott contributed “the following well-written link, which you may want to include in your blog if you think anyone might find it useful. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/fleeing-the-fires-in-sonoma-county”  He was right.

Val and Dave Lasker and Ruth Berggren went up to their Highland villas on Stone Mountain, yesterday.  Dave wrote:  “ Fortunately it is still standing, as are the adjacent houses, so if you don’t look too hard from our front door, everything looks normal. However, if you go 3 doors away, it looks like a war zone. 33 of the 111 homes in our development burnt to the ground.

A closer look at the exterior of our house revealed some fire damage to the structure under the master bathroom.  It looks like the firemen spotted the structure burning, broke through the exterior wall, and put out the fire very quickly, saving our house in the process. Unfortunately it was not quick enough to keep from damaging the master bath above:

After seeing the bathroom, we think it is a miracle that our house is still standing, and we feel very fortunate. Valerie had always wanted to renovate the bathroom, so it looks like her wish may be granted.”

Both of Ruth’s houses are still standing, and Third Ave. is in escrow.  The amazing thing is that the buyers have not backed away.

Alexis Handelman (ABC Bakery) wrote on Facebook: ” It’s been a long week. So long in fact that whole lives have been lived and whole lives have been lost. We learned how resilient we are and how fragile life is. We learned that being a First Responder is what we all aspire to. Show up first. Protect our fellow humans and animals from harm. Provide solace not judgment. Respond with listening and immediate action. Make safety the priority. If we thought we had no effect on our environment we learned the opposite was true. If …we thought we weren’t our brother’s or our sister’s keepers we found out that’s just what we should be. We have lungs full of smoke and hearts full of gratitude. It’s a new day and the beginning of a new week. There’s hope in there and reflection and work but also the newly learned lessons from our First Responder protectors. We are going to show up to our lives. We are going to listen and be compassionate and we are going to help and take care of each other. Let’s all move forward with those values tucked safely in our tired but grateful souls.”

The Scalbergs have them in spades.  All’s well here.  We settled in and got clean.  Tonight they fed us rib steak, corn, Caesar salad, and double chocolate gelato, with Lula’s toffee brittle.  All of this was paired with Night Heron Chard and Viader 2007. We can rough it like this for a while. We love you, Candy and Ernie.  PS: This is the view from our temporary home at sunset.  This fireball is far enough away for me.  20171014ViewfromScalbergs

Well, that’s it – We are settled in Carmel

14 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

We got on the road at 3:00 am.  I was afraid to go straight for 101, as Highway 20, would pass too close to the Redwood fire, which was gaining in size.  It was a calm night, which is one of the reasons we were traveling now.  The other was that there are three trouble spots on the way to Carmel, the Petaluma narrows, San Francisco commuters, and Silicon Valley commuters.  What was billed as a 5 hour trip at midnight, could easily be an 8-hour trip, if I left at 6:00 am.

We took Coastal Highway 1 and 128 to Cloverdale.  It took an hour and forty-five minutes, and we met only 10 oncoming vehicles.  Within the first ten minutes, we saw fire.  It was in the distance, but it was lighting up the sky, and I knew for sure why we were doing this.  I was glad it was dark when we drove through Santa Rosa, because I am not sure I am ready to see it.  We were chuffed by the fact that there were still lights on at the power plant, and many businesses, like Coddingtown Mall and the auto dealers, were still ablaze   with electricity.

Between Santa Rosa and Petaluma, we met a convoy of police and fire vehicles going North.   Their flashing red, white and blue lights are almost blinding.  “That was something”, I remarked.  “Twenty-three of them”, said Elvon.  I was flabbergasted.  He counted them.  He hasn’t done anything mathematical for a good three years.  The adrenalin rush that lets me drive all night is sharpening him up, too.

Google directed me over the Richmond Bridge and on to the Penninsula, without touching San Francisco, and we continued to make good time. Around 8:00 am, 60 miles from our goal, I had relaxed enough to be seriously sleepy, and the Coke I had a half-hour before hadn’t touched it.  So, I pulled over and we dozed for 40 minutes.  I didn’t know where we were but we were past the worst of the Silicon Valley traffic, and we sailed through stinky Gilroy, garlic capital of the world, and on to Salinas.

When Google took me off 880 and on to 101 going North for 16 miles, I figured I had a problem.  I called the hotel and got help, plus the info that we wouldn’t be able to check in until about one-thirty.  I tried the HI Express that we were aimed at, which is the one I had booked for when the Scalbergs get back from Hawaii.  They couldn’t take us, so back to plan A, until the phone rang and it was Candy.  She said to just come there, for heaven’s sake.  I had not wanted to be in their way, when they were getting ready to leave, but, here we are.  Rested and well.

There are no bars here except wine and alcohol.  If you need to reach me by phone, it’s 831-626-4516.

I haven’t seen a news report all day, nor read an email.  Mananya.  The day of rest has been wonderful.  God bless our dear, dear friends.

Well, that’s it – We’re moving on

13 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Yesterday, the fires had consumed 75,000 acres, today it’s 170,000, when last I heard.  I just got a phone call from Drue Mordecai, Sales Manager at the Lodge, and he doesn’t expect we will be back in for 4 – 6 weeks.  The winds will be picking up again tomorrow night and I am nervous about being only 20 miles from a major fire.

I wrote that we have no good options going North, but the way South is open.  I am going to take it, sooner, rather than later.  Scott is looking for a hotel for us as I write this.  It will be for 4-6 weeks, and it will be by the ocean, where there is a hope of being able to breathe, at least when the wind is blowing onshore.  That’s the best thing about where we are and I will be sorry to leave.

We had an amazing dinner tonight.  It was free for evacuees.  I saw a flyer for it at our local Harvest Market, when I went there for oregano oil.  It was an old time church upper thing, with 4 kinds of pasta, chili, corn and regular bread, salads and desserts.  They loaded up three containers for us and we ended up eating about half of them,  No matter.  I’ll take the leftovers with me.

Before I go, I am sorry to report two more houses lost, Arlene & Jerry Phelan’s, Dan Solomon & Lynn Cangemi’s.

Anne Seymour offers:  I am wondering about your friends who say that they cannot see their homes. Tell them to use Google Earth. You can put in any address and see a live photo of the home (or remains).

I’ll start driving in the wee hours tonight and end up in the Holiday Inn Salinas.  It’s a bit dodgy but best I could do on short notice in a tough market.  We’ll move in to Scalbergs on Monday, having sorted out Elvon’s needs.  Then, when they come back, we have the HI Express Marina State Beach booked until the end of November.  By then we should be able to move back to the Lodge.  I wanted all this stuff booked before all the other homeless people get the same idea.

Now for a few hours of sleep or meditation, before we hit the road to beat the traffic.

Well that’s it – We stay put in Fort Bragg

13 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by Helen Megan in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

For anyone just tuning in, we live right in the middle of the Tubbs fire.  We evacuated Fountaingrove Lodge, Monday morning, around 12:30 am and I drove until about 6:30 am to Fort Bragg, where we are staying at the Holiday Inn Express.

I haven’t reported in safe, because the authorities don’t need to be bothered with us. I have let everyone I know know. This  blog, Facebook, my phone and my email are being updated non-stop.  That and taking care of Elvon, are all I do.

Nancy Nelson, in Montreal, wrote “If I were Elvon, I think I would be embarrassed at the public description of toilet issues, incontinence products and so on.”  I wish that could be the case.

Sadly, Elvon is too far gone to ever read my blog, nor anything else on the computer. Bear with me, folks,  I need an outlet. He’ll never know I wrote that.  And, for the record, he’s not even incontinent, he just can’t walk, so some times he doesn’t make it.

The Fountaingrove Lodge evacuation solution is to  Oakmont of Monticito in Concord. So nice to see some of the family again–Ted, Ralph, Andrew-standing, John Mullen and Bobbie. While it is not FGL (what is?) they all say that the residents at O of M are being very hospitable. Each of them are staying with one of the O of M residents in a spare room. Notice that they are most all wearing a change of clothing compliments of a clothing and sundries drive for evacuees throughout the fire zone. Tons of good quality cloths et al (new toothbrushes, shampoo…) being sorted and boxed up on their front lobby for distribution.FGLEvacuees

 

For a hundred residents, there are precious few of them here, with our Dining Room Manager,  Andrew.  The rest are in their city apartments, their campers, with relatives or friends, and in hotels, like us.  We need rain, and it’s coming, but it will be another week.

Once the fires are out, we’ll be able to pick up a few things at FGL, and will need to stay out for another couple of weeks.  Huge thanks to Candy and Ernie Scalberg, for the use of their wonderful flat house in the Carmel Highlands.  We will be forever in their debt.

Sharon Bobrow wrote:  Somewhat good news from Napa Valley Vintners:

Several fires continue to burn in and around the Napa Valley. We have preliminary reports that at least five physical wineries in Napa Valley have suffered total or very significant losses due to the fire. Another 11 have reported damage to their vineyards, to outbuildings on their property or to their operations.

Complicating matters is the fact that it is harvest season in Napa Valley. However, we estimate that 90 percent of the grapes were picked before the fires started on Sunday night. Of the grapes remaining on the vine, it is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon. Our winemakers report that this thick-skinned variety, fully-developed and ready to be picked for the 2017 harvest, is not expected to be impacted by the smoke from the fires. No matter the circumstances, our winemakers remain committed to upholding Napa Valley’s reputation for making some of the world’s finest wines.

And Francey Philipspn-Swim gave us a list of wineries lost in Napa and Sonoma:  (so far)

  1. James Cole Winery
  2. Signorello Estate
  3. William Hill Estate Winery
  4. Kenwood Winery
  5. Kunde Estatewineries
  6. R. Cohn
  7. Frey Winery
  8. Nicholson Ranch
  9. Chateau St. Jean
  10. Stag’s Leap Winery
  11. Paradise Ridge

There is more fire in Eureka, three hours north of us, and the Redwood fire is just an hour and a half to the east, just a bit south.  It looks like we have to stay put. There are only 2 ways out going North. So, the go/stay decision has been made for me and we stay.  Why we can’t leave here: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/display.php?page=us101 and I got Hwy 20 at http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi?roadnumber=20&submit=Search

We could go South to the City, but the air is cleaner here and we have a good place to stay.  Pray for us.

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