Ring of Fire

My my my, here we go, déjà vu all over again. For the past few days I've tried to accomplish a brisk pace upon the rodent wheel while mesmerized by the ring of wildfire surrounding the community of Santa Barbara directly to the north.

As I've gone into before, it's a place that's always been very near and dear to me.  I live in Ventura (which even on its best days is poor man's Santa Barbara) so there's marathon local news coverage of  the disaster, as well as the ominous reminder by the smoke that hugs the horizon.

They're saying that over 30,000 people are evacuated, with another 28,000 on alert to skedaddle when notified. It's hard to wrap the mind around the magnitude. The possibility that a shift in the wind could bring the flames roaring down numerous canyons, and that the entire town may be in its way as it races on its natural path to the ocean is more than surreal.

While my sympathies are entirely with the homeowners snared by the capriciousness of the forces in nature, I also mourn for the other losses that occurred. The other nightmare night when the sundowners roared down Mission Canyon the Botanical Gardens were hit, and I heard the redwood grove is gone. It was more than kind of nice to be able to drive a half hour north and go for a stroll in a redwood grove when I was missing northern California. Gone baby gone. Toast.

So now the city is surrounded by a ring of fire, on the ridges, in the canyons. They say Montecito to the south is vulnerable, and the community of Goleta to the north. As well as the city proper in between.

The news this morning is also stating that the Painted Cave area is vulnerable.  As you can see from the picture to the right, the beauty of the area is more than impressive, and it's a sad fucking shame. (If you want a bit of history of Painted Cave, go here.)

Hopefully the unexpected  gloom this morning is providing a respite that will have a positive effect before it warms up later in the day and the predicted afternoon winds kick up again.

Meanwhile, let's give a listen to Adam's rendition of a song that just seems to fit:

Comments

[Pseudo]

Oh no, not again. summer isna't even officially here.

Interesting version of Cash's song. Wish I'd seen it live, I keep forgettin to watch Idol.

[shaunna]

you can catch it here:

http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_8/performances/adam_lambert_ring_of_fire

[Twenty Four At Heart]

As you know SB is near and dear to my heart since I used to live there. It breaks my heart that they've had so many fire issues recently. From what I've heard the worst is over now ... this time. Thank goodness.