7 07, 2013

Life in a Wildfire – Part 2

By judythemorgan|2013-07-07T06:00:50-05:00July 7th, 2013|Life in A Wildfire|3 Comments

We arrived in Trinidad, Colorado, at three in the afternoon on the day of evacuation. We hoped we’d only be there for the weekend.

Unfortunately, the local evening news was not encouraging. We even made the national news.

The morning news offered no better outlook. Things were unchanged. The West Fork portion of the fire was spreading rapidly toward our little town.

Rather than sit in the hotel room or lobby glued to the television for news that was depressing, we decided to explore Trinidad

Lovely, lovely small town that helped divert our thoughts from what was going on.

By Sunday, we were tired of hearing about the fire situation from reporters on location. We needed to see firsthand what was happening. Plus, we’d seen the sites of Trinidad.

Praying the tourist who had come for the weekend would have checked out of motels/hotels closer to South Fork, we checked out of our Trinidad Holiday Inn (Great place to stay if you come up I-25 into Colorado, btw)

We loaded the dogs and suitcases into the car and headed back west to South Fork.

Ironically, there was also a fire burning in La Veta. The mountain pass we needed to cross to get home. Fortunately, there were no road closings.

Communicating between the cars via walkie-talkies, we made the three-hour trip closer to home, hoping to find a place to stay nearer Del Norte, where the Red Cross shelter was set up.

We found a motel in Monte Vista about fifteen minutes away. We also found friends and neighbors who had been there since the evacuation. Seeing friendly faces lightened our spirits.

On our way to check in at the shelter, we stopped by the Del Norte city park to see where news broadcasts were being made.

Looking at the map and seeing how close the fire actually was to our home did nothing to brighten our spirits.

My finger is pointing to the location of our house and the advancing West Fork Fire East that was encroaching. Again the stark reality of our situation sent shock waves through us.

Every morning we went to the Red Cross shelter for breakfast and informational briefings by the firefighter personnel. Pete Blume, Incident Commander, or his second in command went over maps showing the position and progress of three fires and reported on control and containment of the #1 fire in the U.S.

Blume explained that meant that whatever resources were available were at his disposal, but even with all those resources he’d be unable to extinguish the fires that made up the West Fork Fire Complex.

Every day we heard that there was zero containment or control, but that there had been zero structural damage or injuries. That boosted our spirits.

We returned every evening to the shelter for supper provided by the Salvation Army. Those personnel were kind, compassionate, and did everything they could to elevate our stress at the uncertainty of ever being able to return to our homes.

On the morning of the sixth day, we went to the shelter hopeful. The night before at supper, we’d heard rumors that the evacuation would be lifted.

Blume reported that a Dozier line had been formed behind Sentinel Peak from CO 149 to CO 160. That backfire line would be ignited if the West Fork blaze moved toward South Fork. He considered that a major step in the right direction. However, the Papoose fire had flared big time over night. He posted pictures from the blaze.

The news from Rio Grande County Sheriff Brian Norton was not exactly what we hoped. The mandatory evacuation would be lifted, BUT we would be returning to an active wildfire area.

Uncertainty almost as palatable as the fear when we’d heard the mandatory evacuation order quieted room.

I heard the words “voluntarily returning to an active fire zone” and stared at this picture of the Papoose blaze.

The Red Cross shelter would remain open. The Salvation would be offering meals. We had a motel room seventeen miles away.

How could we return to our little house on the mountain knowing a roaring, unpredictable inferno that could easily erupt like the Papoose fire had loomed three peaks away with only a Dozier line to stop it?

Next blog, I’ll share what decision we made.

5 07, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Ring Around the Chicken Coop

By judythemorgan|2013-07-05T06:00:46-05:00July 5th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|3 Comments

A blog by Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

Chickens are creatures of habit and head for the coop when the sun goes down. Each of them goes to their specified spot on the roost and settles in for the night.

This is their usual routine. This last week, however, was not usual for them. I was not there and things weren’t routine.

A couple of the larger birds, including a rooster, are spending part of their day in the bantam coop with the smaller birds. This causes some confusion in the evening routine now that I have returned.

One night, a large hen was in the coop with the bantams. She didn’t look particularly comfortable and didn’t complain too much when I extracted her and put her in the large coop.

The rooster was on top of the quail cage and this presented a more complicated problem.

With the dachshunds outside, there was a danger of the rooster going over the fence and “playing” with Bella. Even when running along the fence line, there is the possibility of its head sticking through the fence, which is too much of a temptation for Bella.

The first night, I just chased the silly rooster around until I caught it, screaming the whole time “Don’t go near the fence.”

Our neighbors – bless ‘em – have learned to ignore most sounds from our yard.

Last night, I got the dachshunds inside before I began the rooster chase. But, some of the other large birds find this spectacle very amusing and come back out of the coop to watch.

This means that once I have the rooster on the right side of the chicken yard, I must chase him and the other birds around the outside of the coop until they go inside.

Far more exercise than I really want right before bed. Ah, the joys of being a chicken wrangler.

4 07, 2013

Happy Birthday, America!

By judythemorgan|2017-06-11T16:54:02-05:00July 4th, 2013|Holidays|2 Comments

This is one of my favorite family photos of my two grandsons, John (with the flag) and Michael (leading the way).

It also happens to be one of my very talented photographer daughter’s best selling photos.

I think that’s because it represents the freedom born with our great country on the 4th of July.

Like the two young boys running freely down the park path, this country’s constitution grants to each and everyone freedoms not experienced anywhere else in the world.

We can choose our paths, we run or walk.

Our choices.

I hope your family celebrations today will recall the history of this great country and the freedoms we have.

Happy 4th of July!

God Bless America!

3 07, 2013

One Word Wednesday – THANKS

By judythemorgan|2017-11-04T20:15:41-05:00July 3rd, 2013|one word Wednesday|2 Comments

It’s closer to July 4th than Thanksgiving, but THANKS has no season.

My thanks today goes to the 1,464 firefighters working the West Fork Complex Wildfire burning in my backyard. These men are phenomenal. They leave their homes and families to come put their lives in danger to save our homes and lives.

Their sacrifice is magnified by what happened at the Yarnell Fire in Arizona.

Our firefighters stopped, remembered those comrades

and then went right back into the belly of the fire.

My thoughts and prayers to the fire fighters that lost their lives in Arizona and their families.

After very real threats from the West Fork Fire, more than a week of evacuation, and currently living in a pre-evacuation conditions, there is a lot of gratitude for the hard work from the fire fighters, national guard, red cross, sheriff’s office and other officials for all the efforts put forth to protect South Fork.

These wildland fire fighters work long hours in difficult and often dangerous conditions on the ground and in the air to provide skilled and professional fire suppression services when wildfires threaten our homes, property, and the natural resources.

Thanks hardly seems enough.

If you’d like to do more, here are some places to donate:

Wildland Firefighter Foundation This organization picks up where agencies cannot and assists firefighters and their families
South Fork Fire Rescue These guys were first responders when the fire pushed toward our homes. Mail contributions to:
PO Box 579

South Fork, CO 81154

All photos are courtesy of the media library provided by the West Fork Complex crew. If you want to view more photos of the West Fork Complex Fire burning in Colorado, click here

1 07, 2013

Life in A Wildfire

By judythemorgan|2013-07-01T18:32:59-05:00July 1st, 2013|Life in A Wildfire|3 Comments

If you read my blog last Wednesday, you know I am now living in the West Fire Complex Wildfire in the Rio Grande National Forest.

Yep, that’s right. I’m living in a forest wildfire.

West Fork Fire Complex Statistics:

Start Date: 06/05/2013

Percent Contained: 2%

Cause: Lightning

Complex Size: 92, 176 acres

Windy Pass: 1,416 acres

Papoose: 34,272 acres

West Fork: 56,488 acres

Pablo Picasso said: “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”

What fodder the West Fork Complex wildfire is providing this writer!

Our adventure began with the 6 a.m. reverse 911 call on Friday, June 21st, that announced we had to evacuate our home.

Not unexpected. The community meeting the night before had warned of the possibility.

However, possibility is not reality and reality was HARD.

Looking around our little house filled with one third of what we’d had before we moved here in March and knowing we could lose it all sent lumps to our throats and tears to our eyes.

How – beyond the necessary paper documents – do you decide what to load into your cars when you only have four hours? Plus, you’d already downsized considerably to what you wanted or needed.

Wasn’t easy.

We settled on all the quilts my husband’s mother made, a wooden carving of a woman praying my father made for me, some pieces of silver from my mother’s family, a Van Briggle vase titled Lorelei that once belonged to my husband’s sister, two antique clocks, a 1840s porcelain inkwell from Vienna, and a Victorian chatelaine.

Crazy list, right? But, that’s what fit in the small suitcase or around the other stuff in the car. And, each of those items holds precious memories.

We also loaded our laptops and one printer. Tools of our trade that we couldn’t do without.

One of our friends took two of my favorite paintings by Barbara Rudolph, To Kill A Mockingbird and Tell Me A Story to his place in Del Norte until all the danger is gone.

If you’re not familiar with Barbara Rudolph’s work, check out her website. She’s an extremely talented artist who combines objects with birds and creates paintings that capture moments guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. My two pictures have special meaning to me for many reasons, and I can’t wait until I don’t live in a wildfire to get them back.

As we’re packing the cars, firefighters pull our barbeque propane tank and spare gasoline cans to the street. We’d already turned off the propane tank that serves our house and hot water heater. They’re not happy that we have so many trees in our backyard and tell us the outlook isn’t good. We need to leave soon.

We thank them for protecting our home and assure them we are leaving. We never stayed when the Gulf coast hurricane warnings said leave either.

With the two cars loaded with our most precious things and our two four-legged boys, Toby and Buster, we say a prayer for safety and protection, and lock the front door. With the smoke cloud growing, we drive away.

Alone in my car, I look one last time at our little house and wonder if we’ll ever see it again. Tears I didn’t want to shed in front of my husband come.

But, I remind myself it’s just stuff. A phrase I repeat often over the next week.

We bypassed the Red Cross shelter set up in the Del Norte high school gymnasium fifteen miles away from South Fork. Shelters don’t allow dogs inside with owners.

Facilities for small animals and large animals were available, but I didn’t want to be separated from our pets. We’d find a pet friendly motel.

We went through four towns checking availability. There were no rooms. Alamosa State University in Alamosa offered dormitory rooms, but again we’d have to leave our pets at the facility provided.

We’d gone from a big house full of stuff to a small house full of stuff to two cars with all our worldly belongings. I couldn’t leave my babies behind in Monte Vista.

We kept going until Trinidad, Colorado, nearly four hours away. The Holiday Inn Hotel there had a room and allowed pets. We unpack and settle in for the short duration, we thought.

Amazingly, the dogs don’t even bark when we leave to go to the restaurant for dinner. They were too happy to be out of the car and with their humans.

But after a long weekend, we want closer to home so we can find out what’s going on with the fire instead of relying on the media.

Next blog you’ll learn about the next phase of our adventure living in a wildfire.

28 06, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Morning Routines

By judythemorgan|2013-06-28T06:15:53-05:00June 28th, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|4 Comments

A guest blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Letting chickens out has become part of our morning routine.

They are usually waiting at the door and quickly exit the coop.

Some run out while others fly. Those who sleep on the top roost sometimes take a few minutes to fly down and they have little control over where they land. It can be quite funny to watch them.

I’ve learned to stand out of every possible flight path.

Once they are in the chicken yard, some take a running/flying lap around as if to stretch their wings and legs. Their next order of business is a stop at the waterer.

Seeing them gathered reminds me of office workers catching up at the water cooler.

What is included in your morning routine?

26 06, 2013

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY-FIRE

By judythemorgan|2013-06-26T19:56:31-05:00June 26th, 2013|one word Wednesday|4 Comments

Why?

Because seven days ago FIRE erupted in my world and things have not been the same since.

Specifically the West Fork Complex East Zone FIRE.

The white is not a cloud but SMOKE.

How it all began:

On June 5, a lightning strike in the San Juan Forest far on the other side of the Continental Divide from our house started a fire in the high elevations.

No reason for raised concern, forest fires in the summer are a common occurrence in Colorado. We live with the smoke and keep going.

Only the major fires like Waldo Canyon last year and most recently the Black Forest Fire receive much national media attention.

Until last Thursday when the San Juan Forest fire did an unprecedented thing—

It jumped the Continental Divide and ignited beetle infested dead trees in the Rio Grande National Forest.

Burning in the high elevations with so much dead fuel, the San Juan Forest fire officially renamed West Complex Fire spread rapidly, uncontrollably.

Too much wind, too high elevations, and too much dead tree fuel to risk the lives of firefighters busy elsewhere protecting homes and lives. Instead, they watched the fire closely.

Then the fire encroached upon our little town of South Fork and the many, many RV and resort camps along Colorado 160 and the Silver Thread Byway (Colorado 149). Ashes landed on our decks and in our yards, on our houses and cars, and on us.

That’s the glow from flames taken from our front yard.

Life became scary as residents gathered in the Community Center to get details.

We heard words I’d only heard applied to hurricane evacuations…

our little town of South Fork was under pre-evacuation notice.

My husband and I went home, pulled suitcases, and began loading clothes for a possible temporary stay away from our home.

We gathered all our important papers (already stored in portable boxes according to Bob Mayer’s Green Beret Survival Guide). It’s a super book with lists of what you need to have ready in case of any emergency. Buy your copy here.

All night Friday, June 21st, we received reverse 911 calls updating us on the status of the evacuation.

At six a.m., the dreaded words came: MANDATORY EVACUATION: be out of our home by 10 a.m. that morning.

Quickly, we loaded our cars with the possessions we wanted to save and began our life at the mercy of the West Complex Fire.

I’ll begin journaling our story as we await word of when (if) we can return to South Fork and our home.

Join me for the journey.

21 06, 2013

Miller Farm Friday – Don’t Wake the Bees

By judythemorgan|2013-06-21T06:10:16-05:00June 21st, 2013|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

We have run out of honey on Miller Farm and our customers are clamoring for more. So Beekeeper Brian checked on the hive furthest from our house and found it to have a super full of honey, which translates to about 50 pounds.

This was fantastic news. He prepared for honey extraction with great anticipation. Unfortunately, upon opening the hive he discovered a small infestation of hive beetles. This is not a catastrophic event but needs to be addressed.

Picture source: Naturesnectar

Bees are very clean critters and so placing the supers back on a strong hive would allow the bees to clean up the honeycomb. Beekeeper Brian thought putting the supers next to the strong hive would be sufficient.

However, later that night, Beekeeper Brian decided he could not sleep thinking about those supers being on the ground where other critters, i.e. possums, could get into them. Because he’d recently read that bees do not fly in the dark, he decided to go out and move the supers onto the hive.

What he forgot is that all the bees go into the hive at night to sleep after a busy day of gathering nectar and pollen.

When he opened the hive to add the supers, the bees woke up, too, and they were very grumpy. He quickly put the supers in place and headed back to the house.

Unfortunately, some of the bees hitched a ride on his bee suit.

Fortunately, as he was standing in the garage surrounded by bees, he remembered the Bee Gone solution he had recently purchased. He sprayed himself in an attempt to remove the bees, accidentally spraying his face and eyes in the process.

Not a good idea!

He ran into the house hollering for me, but I was in the bedroom asleep. Rachel, however, ran to the kitchen to see what was wrong. She was afraid he had bees stuck in his hair (which is her worst nightmare).

By the time I arrived, Beekeeper Brian was in the shower, and Rachel was searching for renegade bees in the kitchen.

When I realized what had happened, I headed to the bathroom to see if I needed to get the Epipen. (Beekeeper Brian can only handle a certain number of bee stings before he has a serious reaction.)

I wasn’t sure what that number was or how close he was to it. He explained that his screams were the result of stinging in his eyes from the BeeGone solution, not bee stings.

I rejoined Rachel in the kitchen to dispatch any remaining bees. Between us we killed three and decided to leave the bee suit where it was, hoping any bees trapped in it would die by morning.

Once Brian had rinsed the Bee Gone out of his eyes, and assessed the bee stings (only three, which is an annoying, but not a serious number) he removed the bee suit and any remaining bees.

Brian and Rachel had a hard time calming down after that.

Me – I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow – it was just another night on Miller Farm.

Moral of the story: Let sleeping bees lie.

19 06, 2013

One Word Wednesday – RUSH

By judythemorgan|2013-06-19T14:47:17-05:00June 19th, 2013|one word Wednesday|6 Comments

Good word RUSH.

Lately, I have not been rushing. Taking a two week trip through England, Scotland, and Ireland has a way of slowing your pace.

I like the idea of not rushing, of accomplishing things on my to-do list without the sense of urgency and rushing.

That’s why I’m posting later today than usual. I didn’t RUSH to get a blog out there.

According to the definition I found on Dictionary.com, it could be a wise thing not to RUSH. The first definition is: to move, act, or progress with speed, impetuosity, or violence

I certainly don’t want to move with impetuosity or with violence. My daddy always said, “Haste makes waste. Slow down.”

Okay, I know all of those words weren’t original with Daddy, but the older I get the wiser his words become. There is no need to RUSH.

I love this quote from Dave’s Words of Wisdom:

Of course, there are times when it’s necessary to RUSH. Times when we must proceed with speed, but for the remainder of today, unless you’re in one of those situations, don’t RUSH.

Slow down.

See if things don’t get done anyway.

17 06, 2013

Primal Branding your Author Brand – Conclusions

By judythemorgan|2013-06-17T06:18:21-05:00June 17th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

Brand is both a noun and a verb. The verb suggests you do something to be branded.

Once you publish a book, a writer is automatically branded, but branding is a fluid, ongoing process.

The techniques of primal branding that we’ve been discussing for the last few weeks offer a method to develop your author brand along with ways to stand out in a flooded market of book choices.

Primal branding uses what writers are best at—storytelling with certain added visual components. With branding, an author presents to the buyer, aka reader, what they can expect when they purchase your book.

Trouble is, writers equate branding with marketing and balk. Writers (me included) would rather be writing than spend time on marketing!

Unfortunately, marketing is a necessary task. But selling your book shouldn’t be about flooding the Twitter feed with book promo tweets.

When people believe in you through your author brand, they become part of a fan group that surrounds your book. They are willing to advocate their belief in you to others.

Think about the last time you moved. How did you find out about the best grocery store? The best church? The best doctor or dentist? The auto mechanic who wouldn’t rip you off?

Most likely, from someone willing to advocate for their preference.

In other words, they delivered the form of marketing that traditional wisdom tells you money can’t buy.

Word of mouth.

Author branding offers a means to provide resonance and meaning for what we believe in and what we write about. A way to develop a fan base willing to sell our book, which is our product.

The question to ask yourself is whether you want to be just another book on the shelf, or do you want to become a desired and popular product?

If your answer is the latter, then author branding is for you.

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Happy 4th of July!