Hi, I’m glad to hear you are settling into the new house. How tall are the pine trees? Do they give the neighborhood a nice woodsy feel, or are they the scraggly Monterey Pine sort?
We’re having a “heat wave” up here in Fort Bragg – it reached 74 degrees yesterday afternoon. All of the local coast residents are wandering around in shorts and tank tops complaining about the high temperatures. Meanwhile I’m in 3/4 sleeves and an ankle length knit skirt. Inland Mendocino really is having a heat wave. Ukiah is supposed to cool down to 109 today. Two years of working at Schereman cured me of complaining about the heat. If it’s not 89 at 8am and rising , it’s not really hot. What’s awful is that I’m dehyrdated – me, a seasoned camp counselor. I should know better. The “heat” has me drinking more water, but I’m realizing now that I’ve probably been at least slightly dehyrated all winter. I just chalked the chronic symptoms all up to depression.
We are all suffering from the smoke, though. Air quality ranges from moderate to unhealthy depending on where you are in the county, but even all of us coastal residents are struggling with sore throats and red eyes. Only in Mendocino County could 132 wildfires burn 50,000 acres in three weeks, with only two residences and a commercial structure destroyed. Our friendly neighborhood pull-together- spirit made the New York Times earlier this week, which highlighted the free aromatherapy massages offered to volunteer firefighters and the potent scent of marijuana plants skipping on the vineyard breezes. And we’re batting two for two this month, because the Gualala (it’s pronounced “wha-LA-la”, not “way-LA-la” as published) fireworks spat made the LA Times, too.
Between the “heat” and the smoke, and some very nasty ongoing personnel issues, tensions are skyrocketing in the office. I’m feeling pretty disheartened by all the rejections I’ve received in the past few months, so I vacillate between resigned acceptance at staying here for the benefits and near-tearful bursts of anxiety in which I visulalize printing out a letter of resignation. You know how impulsive I am; I’ve been working very hard to control myself lately, but what I really want to do is escape. I remind myself every morning that I am a public servant, and I am here to gently guide the public through the building process, not to get involved in office politics and feuds. But the tension is exhausting.
On a more cheerful note, Elka has matured enough to let me quilt in piece, so I’m sewing again. I brought out the “crazy star” quilt and I’m combining it with more traditional double nine blocks. Still shades of purple and turquoise. Bailey brings me a dead rodent when ever Elka does something particularly obnoxious to him. He’s definitely gotten better at hunting, but he won’t actually eat anything he catches.
