Butch is the neighbor’s cat. He’s no ‘fraidy cat. I think you’ll agree he’s got good color for hunting in this terrain. Only his pink nose betrays him. And the fact he likes to roll around on his back a lot.

They opened the trail back up this morning so I went to see the aftermath of the recent fire. It smelled like burnt weenies, and the ash was still blowing into your eyes in the still-strong (still dangerous) north winds. It looks like most of it burned fast, and not too hot. I expect we’ll see a lot of the oaks return to life. It will be interesting to see the recovery over time. Fire is a natural cycle of events here, which is easy to say when it’s not BURNING TOWARD YOUR HOUSE.

I posted more photos at Flickr HERE

The local turtles seemed not to mind at all.

Tuung.

The link above is to their Myspace page. It’s called Folkltronica by people who like to put music and things in categories. You can listen to their music there, and you’ll see what I’m thinking here. They also have links to their videos on the page. The “Woodcat” video is brilliant. “Bullets” is moving, and I can’t really say why. Check it and see. And hear.

Note similarity to my photo:

Okay, only slightly similar. I used this image in past marketing, but more than one person said it looks “evil” somehow.

ROCHESTER, NY—After years spent poring over mysterious and arcane plat sheets and deciphering long-forgotten building codes, city councilmember Mike LaMere unearthed the mysterious City Zoning Amulet Friday.

Mike LaMere, wearing the Ever-Evaluating Eye of Surr-Vey.

“Behold!” LaMere said, holding aloft the solid-gold amulet, which is emblazoned with the Ever-Evaluating Eye of Surr-Vey, Lord Of Demarcation, He Who Measures And Assesses. “With this sigil, the power of zoning comes. Through me, the power of zoning flows! All will behold my power, and I shall bow to no man when designating matter-of-right developments for major retail and office spaces to a maximum lot occupancy of 75 percent for residential use!”

From the Onion of course.

I got that call you don’t want to hear at work. It’s a friend. “Hey, there’s a fire, and it looks like it may be near your house.” Sure enough, at about 11:30 and there’s a big fire in the north of Redding. You can get good coverage at Redding.com/scanners and listen to the workers and fire people. It looks like we are not in the path for now, but the wind is scary.

Looking southeast. Fire is a fact of life (and death) here, so is not to be treated lightly. I make sure the pets are rounded up and we are ready to go. I hope all others are safe. I hope no workers are injured. I always feel a little anxious, when I wake up to a windy day in late summer. This year the oak trees seem under distress everywhere, and are unusually brown for only August. They almost looks like they do in October.

Peter Murphy is the lead, and is not related to me, as far as I know. We are apparently related in spirit however! Good job everyone.


I love real estate. You never know what’s next. Who knew that you could get a bomb shelter in Red Bluff for only $2.5m?

Here’s the description:

approx 4,000 sq ft five flights of stairs below the surface of the earth, 2-generators 2-compressors air filtration system, hoist with approx two ton capasity, was built by federal government, 10 acres of land, decontamination room, well, septic, on top of mountain with awesome views of the valley. about 13 minutes from down town red bluff. hellecopter is not included. serious inquiries only.

Too bad about the ironically named “hellecopter.” Anyway, live through the apocalypse in the style to which you have become accustomed. Call me for more details.

Erin’s muppet dog turns out to be a poodle. I wouldn’t have guessed.

Before and after. Must be cooler without all that fluff.

Erin and her new dog. It looks like a muppet character from Sesame Street! We just need to paint it some pastel color. Say, you ever notice how owners resemble their dogs…?

I assembled my photographs of the Saturday market into a slideshow on Flickr. Check it out HERE.I love the color and sensual shapes of all the produce.