Your dad is a badass! Great interview. You mentioned Topanga being a fire trap. Up north, I worry about Mill Valley & the parts of the Oakland Hills that didn’t burn in the 1991 firestorm. Here in CO at least aspen groves are less flammable than distressed pine. I was running around Monarch Pass yesterday & grateful for the rain as there’s so much dead pine there, it’s highly flammable in dry weather. Pam Houston’s memoir Deep Creek about her ranch in Creede does a deep dive into living through a fire there several years ago—worth reading.
I have (non-local to CO) run clients asking if they should cancel their races in Estes Park next month due to the fires. This is the first year I’ve been tempted to say “probably”. We were just discussing yesterday so this piece is timely AF! Thank you, and stay safe!!! My husband grew up in Telluride and now we wonder if summers will be possible.
Utterly fascinating interview; I'm sorry I needed so long to get to it. This should really be a book, one I'm sadly not destined to write. The lengths that humans go to to keep this sagging, leaking, lost boat afloat is astounding. And I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. Look at the body of knowledge your father had to familiarize himself with in order to be a proficient, effective smokejumper/forest firefighter. That is neither natural nor good for one's health and peace of mind, but this is the price we pay to live like we do. AAAAND...budgets have been stripped to the bone. This reminds me of something my wife said a long time ago: women are at their wit's end, hanging by a toenail, with only faith to keep them from the abyss (not her exact words). How long before hordes of women mail it in? How long before all of our forests are burned to the ground? How long before people realize the one happens in conjunction with the other, and BOTH will occur if we do not, finally, make peace with the planet we are living on. This war has gone on for far too long...
It's pretty overwhelming. Forests are meant to burn, but not like this. And if we keep up our consumption and spread and me-me-me attitudes, we'll lose the forests that sustain us. It's wild how few people believe or care. Thanks for reading and enjoying!
Great interview! The smoke from the New Mexico Calf Canyon fire has been really rough at our house this week. But today, it’s RAINING! 🌧🌧🌧🌧 Many thanks to all the firefighters out there.
Growing up in Southern California, fires were facts of life. I remember driving through Serra Retreat during the 1970 Wright/Clampitt Fires. I was 6, both sides of the road were on fire and my dad told us not to touch any metal because we were driving over live wires. A sad, but true comment about Topanga. This is a remarkable story about the Herculean efforts of longtime Topanga resident Shane "Sheriff Shane" McMahon during the 1993 Topanga fire. "Topanga Die-Hards Set Back Fires to Save Homes" LA Times 1993: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-14-me-56915-story.html
Pretty amazing. I was part of the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness when I lived there, and it still has this vibe of, "we need to know how to save this on our own." I've evacuated several times but I've never had the experience you did. Can't imagine the worry your dad must have been carrying.
Fascinating interview!
Your dad is a badass! Great interview. You mentioned Topanga being a fire trap. Up north, I worry about Mill Valley & the parts of the Oakland Hills that didn’t burn in the 1991 firestorm. Here in CO at least aspen groves are less flammable than distressed pine. I was running around Monarch Pass yesterday & grateful for the rain as there’s so much dead pine there, it’s highly flammable in dry weather. Pam Houston’s memoir Deep Creek about her ranch in Creede does a deep dive into living through a fire there several years ago—worth reading.
I keep meaning to read that — adding it to my library queue now!
I have (non-local to CO) run clients asking if they should cancel their races in Estes Park next month due to the fires. This is the first year I’ve been tempted to say “probably”. We were just discussing yesterday so this piece is timely AF! Thank you, and stay safe!!! My husband grew up in Telluride and now we wonder if summers will be possible.
If you find yourself out here, let me know!
Utterly fascinating interview; I'm sorry I needed so long to get to it. This should really be a book, one I'm sadly not destined to write. The lengths that humans go to to keep this sagging, leaking, lost boat afloat is astounding. And I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. Look at the body of knowledge your father had to familiarize himself with in order to be a proficient, effective smokejumper/forest firefighter. That is neither natural nor good for one's health and peace of mind, but this is the price we pay to live like we do. AAAAND...budgets have been stripped to the bone. This reminds me of something my wife said a long time ago: women are at their wit's end, hanging by a toenail, with only faith to keep them from the abyss (not her exact words). How long before hordes of women mail it in? How long before all of our forests are burned to the ground? How long before people realize the one happens in conjunction with the other, and BOTH will occur if we do not, finally, make peace with the planet we are living on. This war has gone on for far too long...
It's pretty overwhelming. Forests are meant to burn, but not like this. And if we keep up our consumption and spread and me-me-me attitudes, we'll lose the forests that sustain us. It's wild how few people believe or care. Thanks for reading and enjoying!
Great interview! The smoke from the New Mexico Calf Canyon fire has been really rough at our house this week. But today, it’s RAINING! 🌧🌧🌧🌧 Many thanks to all the firefighters out there.
Thank goodness for monsoon season showing up to give a little relief!
Outstanding, great interview, I could see your dad talking as you wrote. Love your parents
Such a joy to have the recording too.
Growing up in Southern California, fires were facts of life. I remember driving through Serra Retreat during the 1970 Wright/Clampitt Fires. I was 6, both sides of the road were on fire and my dad told us not to touch any metal because we were driving over live wires. A sad, but true comment about Topanga. This is a remarkable story about the Herculean efforts of longtime Topanga resident Shane "Sheriff Shane" McMahon during the 1993 Topanga fire. "Topanga Die-Hards Set Back Fires to Save Homes" LA Times 1993: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-14-me-56915-story.html
Pretty amazing. I was part of the Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness when I lived there, and it still has this vibe of, "we need to know how to save this on our own." I've evacuated several times but I've never had the experience you did. Can't imagine the worry your dad must have been carrying.
If nothing else, my dad was not risk averse. We lived on the beach, he was doing a bit of recon.
Amazing 😂