It’s that time of the year when we need to start making your home and mine safe from the ravages of a wildfire. which could occur at any moment now that weeds and chaparral have grown taller than an elephants eye due to the recent heavily wet storms followed by heat spells.
So many of those mornings these days have been so beautiful these sunny days as Rogers and Hammerstein said, Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a beautiful feeling that everything is going my way. Those warm days almost make us forget those rainy days.
First thing I need to do is to remove all the limbs and branches that have fallen this last winter from those strong wind events. I have a large branch blown off a tree that I need to cut up and then I plan to move those branches to my curb line for the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council to come and chip. They will blow those chips onto my parking area, which hinders weed growth. By doing that first, the branches and limbs don’t get tangled up in my weed eater string (it’s actually vinyl). When it does get all tangled up (“Tangled Up in Blue” was by Bob Dylan but that is an entirely different thought stream). Anyway, tangled weed eater string slows down my progress as I spend hours doing the untangling.
I find it is important to wear thick clothing and steel-toed boots when weed eating, just in case I encounter another rattlesnake, which I often do and have already killed two in my yard this season. (OK, so they were only 8-inch long babies; I still want to be prepared)
I don’t like spiders and snakes and that ain’t what it takes to love me, you fool, like I wanna be loved by you. (Jim Stafford -1974)
Also, I always wear protective eyewear to protect my eyes from rocks and debris that are kicked up by that dern weed eater. I guess in past years I should have also put protective gear over my car; this year and future years I will always drive it far away, as broken and chipped car windows are very expensive –as I have learned in past years, and that is not a joke. I’ve also learned from experience (ouchies and bruises) that by tilting the weed eater to my left, it propels all that debris away from me; to the right gives me a battered body.
I actually like being outdoors in the garden, and enjoy it year round, so even the few days of removing this year’s rapidly growing weeds is somewhat enjoyable. Living here on the mountain is the best, and I reflect Stephen Still’s attitude about his garden too.
There’s a place I can get to, Where I’m safe from the city blues, And it’s green and it’s quiet, Only trouble was I had to buy it, And I’ll do anything I got to do, Cut my hair and shine my shoes, And keep on singin’ the blues, If I can stay here, in Johnny’s garden.
My vinca garden is growing thicker and lush from all this natural watering and I anticipate lovely purple periwinkle blossoms soon arriving, maybe in time to create those Purple Mountains Majesty in time for Jamboree Days, this July 3 and 4.
Well, this musing hasn’t been that funny, but getting prepared to prevent possible wildfirem danger is serious business. We are so fortunate that our community understands the danger and continues to be proactive and each of us does the necessary weed clearance although I will admit the county does use strong arm tactics to encourage us.
I am self-encouraged since the 2003 Old Fire came up and burned parts of my home, and I know it would have been much worse if I hadn’t done my yearly yard clearance in advance. See ya out there, with the background hum of the whirling weed eater motors.
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
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