Orange skies

Air quality, 12 September 2020

I have blogged before about fires here in California, and the destruction they leave behind them. Back then--October 2017--we played a game of cat-and-mouse with the smoke, departing for Yosemite and then coming back once offshore winds had moved the pollution away from our home. What is happening now is on a totally different scale. To escape the smoke caused by the current fires near and far we would have to get on an airplane and fly to the other side of the Rocky Mountains, a distance of about a thousand miles. To be really sure, we would have to go even farther: smoke from these fires has reached Nebraska, five hundred miles further to the East. (For our European readers, that is further than the distance from Amsterdam to Moscow.)

Back here in California, the smoke is so thick that for the better part of a week we haven't seen the sun, except once or twice, as a faint pink ball. We wake each day to a world without shadows, dusted with ash that's fallen from a gray sky. Except for Wednesday, when the sky was orange. "What fresh hell?!" texted a friend of mine from the city, gazing out at this view...

The view from Dolores Park

The smoke that caused this apocalyptic effect came down from Oregon, where currently more than a tenth of the entire state's population is under evacuation notice, if they haven't already fled. Oregon, which is known for its lush greenery, is also on fire, with many towns utterly destroyed and the city of Portland itself threatened.

Still, the smoke can mostly be avoided, at least by those of us privileged to work in our own homes, serviced by grocery delivery, and with plenty of HEPA filters around and about. But what about the fires themselves, do they pose any real threat? At the moment, they do not, but things this time do feel even more...personal. For one thing, the Woodward Fire, the source of the smoke I mentioned in my last post, is less than 20 miles from our home, the nearest such event since we've lived here. Sparked by lightning, it has been burning since August 18th, and isn't expected to be fully contained until September 12th. That fire grew rapidly, and scarily, because it is in deep woods difficult to access, and because with so many fires burning elsewhere it couldn't be properly attended to until teams were brought in from Montana.

Fire fighting encampment in the next valley over

That fire is under control, but there are much larger fires raging totally out of control elsewhere in the state. This photo is one of the more terrifying images associated with the current conflagrations:

View from the Bidwell Bar Bridge over Lake Berryessa, 9 September 2020

This is nowhere near us, but we did drive over this bridge on our way back from camping just a few weeks ago. Indeed, Gid and I got out to walk across it:

Same bridge, less than a month ago

Those trees are gone, the road is closed, and the nearby town of Berry Creek, which I noted as we passed through because even from the road it was obvious that the creek was indeed full of berries, has been destroyed.

In truth, it is only a matter of time before fire swings through our neighborhood. We live with go-bags packed, escape routes noted...we are fire safe, but not fire proof. So why stay, you ask? Because, in truth, it is only a matter of time before climate disaster finds all of us, everywhere, and here in California we are at least learning the true scope of that disaster while there is still time to prepare for it.

Disaster living

Happy place

"Oh, 2020," the Internet moans, "What else do you have in store for us?" Writing from California--blanketed by smoke, with more fire-starting thunderstorms on the way--and facing a third of the year still to come, it is hard to keep a brave face. And more bad news: the epic Trumpfoolery aside, 2020 will be followed by worse years still. The hallmark of climate change is concurrent disasters, after all.

Pandemic living is not the new forever, but we have to accept that disaster living is. I do not expect ever again to enjoy long periods in which the world around me seems calm and well-adjusted. But I do want my internal world to be calm and well-adjusted just as often as it can be. That's going to take work and preparation. Some things I tell myself:

• Focus on making progress, not on being done. Because we are--I'll write about the Barn, soon--but will never be.
• Meet uncertainty with diversity. You can't prepare for everything, but if you're well prepared for at least a few scenarios--fire, flood, earthquakes--then when something new (a pandemic, say) takes you by surprise you'll probably have at least a few N95s on hand.
• Put yourself out there. Not literally--stay at home, except maybe if you're going camping--but visualize the world you no longer encounter. Those friends are still there, those places are still there, those problems are still there, and there are still ways to interact with and to help all of them.
  
•  Give and ask. Friends of ours, aware of our lack of air conditioning and of the situation outside our window...
  

...let us borrow not just one but two air purifiers. Saved the day (or possibly the week), and reinforced existing mutuality. We are none of us going to get through this alone, nor will we have to.

Chicken Karma

Two chickens, two eggs!

I mentioned in passing that we now have chickens. Busy creatures, and mostly quiet now that we "took care of" the one rooster among them, the two birds keep to themselves, but always with a sharp eye out for new spaces to explore. This gives the lie to those who claim that even when provided outside space chickens prefer to remain in their coops--please, spend extra for properly pastured eggs! It can also lead to problems, and last week it did: while we were away camping, someone left the gate to the creek open and one of our two birds flew the coop, or, more likely, just walked out. The creek, a wildlife corridor, is frequented by a variety of hungry predators: a chicken wandering down there is not likely to last long. And so, having received the news by text, we mourned its passing.

But the creek is a funny place and often turns up surprises. I recall, a couple of years back, one such surprise: we discovered a little girl, four-year-old Lulu, wandering alone in the creek. A hot day, Lulu was wearing a pink puffy jacket and holding a whistle, which she was blowing as she went. We never found out why she had on a puffy jacket, but the whistle showed some foresight on the part of her parents, as did the tag with a phone number we discovered once we lured her out with some watermelon. Lulu, unaware she was lost, was soon returned to her grateful parents.

Lulu was in the creek that day because Lulu loves the creek, a fact her parents accommodated. And apparently Lulu still loves the creek, and is still often to be found there. So no surprise that it was Lulu who found our wandering chicken in the creek and brought her home, Lulu having, in the intervening years, learned to return home on her own. The find kicked off a good deal of local chatter as chicken owners up and down the creek were contacted, and, eventually, us among them. So we found Lulu, and Lulu found our chicken. Fairfax, again, provides, as a good village should.

Father's Day: The Shave

Barber waiting for next customer

I don't celebrate Father's Day, or rather, I don't celebrate just a single day a year as Father's Day, demanding instead Father's Day treatment, oh, at least once or twice a week. Specifically, a shave.

I taught Gideon how to give a decent shave last year while we were in Amsterdam. The process was not without its setbacks, but there we had a commodious tub, and the shave was a nice way to take up at least some of the time he spends talking about video games and other virtual or imaginary things in the course of a shared shower. But back in Fairfax we had to give it up: our shower here is barely big enough to have two standing together, and sharing it is in no way relaxing, much less shaving in it.

And relaxing is what it's all about, because being a dad stresses me out.

Then, just recently, on a walk with Qubit, we found the chair pictured above. It's been a while since I acquired a second hand seat in this way, but it's how all the best of them have come to me over the years. So now, while we still don't have heat in our bathroom, or a tub, or a shower big enough for two, the luxury of a reclining shave, that we do have.

Even if you don't choose to give up most of your bathroom space to accommodate your budding barber, you can still make your Father very happy by watching Lesson 20 here together. Next up, a towel warmer!

Pandemic planning-Fairfax recovers

It's time to reopen the economy. A long post about that, and a call to action at the very bottom.

Why reopen the economy now?

Health authorities in the Bay Area have agreed on a set of "Indicators" showing progress in controlling the impacts of COVID-19. These are meant to inform (but not determine) decisions about relaxing per county Shelter-in-Place orders. In Marin, those Indicators look like this:

>80/100k reported in the last couple of weeks. Not even close to the state goal.

 

Number of COVID patients in the hospital is not only increasing but is indeed at an all time high for Marin.

In most respects Marin has things under control: enough hospital beds, enough resources for contact tracing, almost enough PPE. But the presence of the disease in local communities is increasing, and there is no reason to expect it to slow in the foreseeable future.

So why reopen? Because businesses are dying in droves. We are making a communal decision here to accept a higher rate of infection in exchange for enough economic activity to save the retail establishments (and related jobs) that haven't already given up the ghost. This decision will turn out to be a good one only if consumers participate in their local economies and if they are able to do so safely. If consumers stay home--whether because of real or perceived concerns about their safety in public--then more businesses will go under. And if consumers do come out but many more of them get sick because they did, then the price paid in public health will become too high--those graphs will jump further upwards--and reopening will have to be reversed. This would be disastrous in every respect.

How can we reopen safely and effectively?

There's still a lot we don't know about the disease, but we do know how to keep people from getting it: wear masks, interact outside and only in limited ways, and give each other space. How a retail business can operate profitably while still keeping workers and customers safe, that's a harder question. Here's a highly selective extract from the County's extensive set of rules governing the current phase of reopening for restaurants and shops respectively:

Restaurants may offer outdoor dining if they adhere to the following guidelines:

• Space all tables at least six feet apart.
• Place tape or markings at least six feet apart in any area where members of public may form a line.
• Encourage reservations or advise people to call in advance to confirm seating/serving capacity. Consider a phone reservation system that allows people to queue or wait in cars and enter only when a phone call, text, or other method, indicates that a table is ready.
• Limit tables to no more than 6 people; all who share a table must be within the same household group.
• Utilize expanded outdoor seating where possible along right of ways or other outdoor areas as approved by local jurisdictions.

Best Practices for Curbside & Outdoor Retailers:

• The curbside or walk-up transaction will occur outside the building, such as in the doorway or through an exterior window. Customers will not enter the premises of the store at any time.
• With permission from the local jurisdictions and/or shopping center, Curbside Retailer may display merchandise curbside or create an outdoor retail location. Curbside Retailers must clearly designate and mark any outdoor retail location. Local jurisdictions shall have flexibility to create outdoor space use solutions that work for their communities.
• Curbside pick-up/delivery access points are clearly designated and marked and meet the criteria established by the local jurisdiction to do so.
• Provide a location for customers to pick up their goods and a contact to allow for delivery without direct interaction, except as necessary to accept payment.
• Limit the number of customers waiting in line at any one time that will allow for customers and employees to easily maintain at least six foot distance from one another and allows sufficient sidewalk or outdoor space to allow safe pedestrian right-of-way at all times.
• Be prepared to queue customers outside while still maintaining physical distance. No non-household group gatherings around outdoor retail displays are allowed.
• Shade structures. Umbrellas, canopies and other shade structures are only allowed if they do not have sides and allow for the free flow of air through the space and as permitted by the local jurisdiction.
  

The question again: How can we do this safely and effectively? The Town Council considered a proposal brought by the talented and persuasive John Bela at a previous special meeting (see my last blog post on the topic) and thereafter voted as follows:

In an effort to temporarily streamline Town regulations regarding outdoor dining and other business uses (e.g., outdoor retail), the Town Council took several actions at its June 3rdmeeting. Specifically, the Town adopted an urgency ordinance to create a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) process. TUP’s will allow restaurants and other businesses to temporarily expand their operations outside on their private property (e.g., parking lot) for such uses as dining, retail, or exercise classes.

The Council also adopted a resolution that: 1) authorizes the Town Manager to establish a special administrative permitting process that allows restaurants and other businesses to temporarily operate in a safe, expanded outdoor capacity in the public right-of-way adjacent to their businesses (e.g., parking spaces) and 2) allows for the temporary closure of portions of Mono Ave.(alley) adjacent to Bolinas Rd. for outdoor dining. There is no fee for either the TUP or special administrative permit. All businesses must comply with the MarinRecovers safety guidelines.

In addition, the Council intends to "Discuss/consider the further use of public spaces (e.g., parking lots) for temporary outdoor businesses uses and provide direction to staff" this Wednesday the 17th. Attached to this item on the agenda you will find an even more detailed proposal from John. To my mind, this is the best way forward for Fairfax--not a perfect solution, nor the last word on the matter, but a great place to start. And that brings me to my ask: please read it and, if it has your support too, please come out again to voice that support at this Wednesday's meeting. Can't make the meeting (or can't stay up until this agenda item comes around)? Email Michelle, the Town Clerk, to state your opinion, and if you do so during the meeting (which starts at 6 PM) there's a good chance it will be read out on your behalf when the item comes up. Participate!