Helicopter Attack!

I feel like I've been under attack by helicopters all day - ever since I woke up. I live just down the hill from the heliport and consequently am used to having them make a bit of noise in summer months. Well of course my first thought was that something terrible was happening - most likely a forest fire. But after a full day of this annoying noise I'm thinking it must be training exercises for the forest service. There's been no sign of flames or smoke in the area. Ah, the joys of living in the middle of a national forest!

Besides forest fires, the only reason a helicopter comes here is to pick up an emergency patient - usually a heart attack victim. There's been nothing on my scanner today about the helicopters so I'm guessing this is just a training thing... all day long!... I could do with some peace and quiet at this point. Its starting to get on my nerves.

I even sat here thinking about how the Davidians at Waco must have felt having to listen to government helicopters circling their home all those terrible days...

Mom Was Here

Today my mom left - I think it was too hot here in the Klamath River Valley ... or maybe there just wasn't enough to do. Too bad she didn't get here a few days earlier when the temperatures were down.

After she left, Keith and I walked from here all the way to the other side of the Elk Creek Bridge and back, for exercise. We both need exercise so much. It used to be that we walked together all the time, when we first moved here... but when I got sick and had to have the hysterectomy last year, we quit and we're both so out of shape now. He needs to walk because of his diabetes and I need to walk because I'm overweight and because of high blood pressure... so hopefully we'll keep walking every morning now... at least, that's the plan.

I also finished chapter three in The Artists Way. This is like the third time I've done chapter three but probably the first time I actually did all the tasks. Instead of trying to keep up with the one-week schedule, I'm just going at my own pace.

Later we went on a tour of a few river access places we've never been to before. One was China Point. It is still a bit smoky here. The smoke is coming from the Florence/Biscuit fires in Oregon.

Going to China Point helped get my mind off the misery I was feeling because of my mom leaving.

Shopping, Restaurants, Water, and the Webdesign Business

Tonight my daughter and I drove to Oregon to go shopping. Well, on my birthday, which is already passed, I wanted to go out for dinner in Cave Junction (Oregon) and everyone I mentioned this to was telling me there were no restaurants there except a pizza place and a Chinese food place. So today we went through the town looking around and saw a lot of restaurants, both large and small, cheap looking and expensive looking... really a variety - and I wonder why those other people don't realize how cool it is to have all those places to eat out just over the hill... accessible in the summer when the road's not closed, anyhow. There were actually at least two pizza places and two Chinese food places. Anyhow, should we ever be able to afford it, we will go out to dinner there. Right now we barely have enough money to buy groceries until the end of the month.

When I got home, there was an email waiting from a guy who wants to talk to me about redesigning his website. I know I should be excited but for right now I'm having a panic attack. I don't know if I'm ready to start earning money! I don't even have my own webdesign site done, my business plan is only about half written... and I'm just plain scared. I'll go ahead and check out his project anyhow.

I love good bottled spring water. Now, if you happen to be in Mt. Shasta City or Dunsmuir, you can take your bottle and get your own fresh spring water at the source... filted through miles of lava within Mt. Shasta... I just love that. Here in town I'm at the mercy of the local grocery store, but usually there's some kind of good water. However....... over the hill in Oregon, there's some really interesting water. Right now I'm drinking Mountain Mist - premium artesian spring water - from Washington. It is so good! I also brought home four large jugs of Earth2O water from Opal Springs in Oregon - one of my favorite waters... and I don't know why it isn't sold in California... but every time I go north of the border, I get some of this.

My favorite water of all is Castle Rock spring water from Dunsmuir, CA... but the company changed hands and it is hard to find. I can only find little 16.9 oz. bottles here in town now. Castle Rock was my constant water source when I lived in the SF Bay Area - and when I moved north I found their bottling company in Dunsmuir - where I stayed for two months while looking for a home. The Dunsmuir site tells the story of The Best Water In The World... well, I believe it!... their "water supply" is piped into fountains all over town that run constantly (no on/off valve) so to get some, all we had to do was take our gallon jug to the nearest fountain and fill up.

Now if you look at a photo of Mossbrae Falls in Dunsmuir - you'll see where Keith and I went on our first "date" if you want to call it that..... the Falls are about 1/2 mile down the railroad tracks in northwest Dunsmuir and if a train comes you have to step aside... or else. Well, two trains passed us when we went to the Falls that day. It was fun and Mossbrae Falls is one of the most beautiful places in the world... just very hard to get to... so it is not crowded. :)

Fires continue and he air is smoke filled ... and fire crews were coming into Cave Junction to spend the night - at about the time we were leaving. There was so much smoke in the air tonight that on the way home the nearly-full moon looked like it was behind a cloud... barely visible. So far it hasn't been enough to make my eyes sting.

Writing, Writing, Writing

News... there's not much new going on here. Things are starting to get so peaceful here again, I've started back into my writing projects. I spent a peaceful afternoon letting the waiters at Indian Creek Café fill my coffee cup, while getting some preliminary writing done to plot my protagonist's inner turmoil and progress. Yes, it is another novel in the making - this one for the young adult age (teens).

The helicopters were making so much noise today, Keith and I decided to take a drive to see what they were up to and get fire pictures for Happy Camp News - but as it turned out, it was only a training exercise.

Fire at the Top of the Town Trail, Near Happy Camp

There was a fire near here on Thursday June 13, starting at about five pm. By the time I saw it at six there were two helicopters and an air tanker hitting it pretty heavy and by sunset most of the flames were history. Firefighters were on their way uphill while the person who set the fire was on his way down. Rumor has it that the arsonist confessed.

This was close to Happy Camp, at the top of the Town Trail.
Not a very friendly thing for someone to do.

Too close for comfort!

I live right on the other side of the Klamath River, from where the fire was.

However, I knew our firefighters would put it out quickly - of that I had no doubt. Fortunately the wind wasn't blowing very hard and they had fifty people on the scene to control it right away.