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~ Kathy M.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Update for the Week of April 29th through May 5th:


What a week.  Did I start out last Sunday's post that way too?  Well, lucky me, two weeks in a row!  Everything seems to be going at such a fast pace right now.

The Highlights
  • I got sick again with a bad cold and sometimes had stomach related symptoms.  I went to work on Monday, and came home after only two hours.  I went back to work on Tuesday and am still dragging.  I have pretty much lost my voice too.  
  • Last week, we got a new director (this one permanent) and a new teacher.  Lots of changes, but nothing new there.  Over the past 6 weeks that I have worked there, change has been constant.  Hopefully things will settle down now.  It has all worn me out.  I am appreciating the new friends that I have made at my work, but I miss my old life.  Very much.  
  • I met some amazing people at the conference, and reconnected with many of my Head Start co-workers and others that I hadn't seen since 2005.  I will be writing up what I learned and putting that information on my Comfort and Joy Childcare blog as soon as I can.  In my "spare" time, I will be working on filling in the blanks over there. 

Source:  Photo by Angi Grayham, taken at Gordy's Truck Stop

  • Our town, La Pine, had a huge fire yesterday, along with 17 smaller ones.  The wind was blowing hard all day, and it was coming from the northwest, instead of from the south.  It caused trees to have to bend in a different way than they were used to, and many of them snapped in half, taking power lines down with them and causing fires.  Even before the fires began, there was widespread power outage.  Being 7 miles from town, we were not right in the middle of anything and did not even lose power.
  • The largest fire, dubbed The Burgess Road Fire, burned around 100 acres, almost made it to the downtown area.  First on the scene were our nephew, Jimmy Matthews, his in-laws, Mike and Max Shields and our friend George Green ... they were the volunteers with a road-grader who carved out a fire-line boundary.  It worked for the fire on the ground, but the wind was blowing fire from the top of one tree to another and kept spreading quickly.  Firefighters from all over the Central Oregon region pitched in and it is nearly out now; there are just a few hotspots left to mop up.  Many thanks go out to the firefighters and volunteers for saving our town.
  • That fire began near our new school, Rostand Elementary, and then burned between Highway 97 and the newer Crescent Creek Subdivision.  The subdivision and the senior living complex were both evacuated for several hours.  Here is a link if you want to know more details about the fires:  Z21 News Story About The Burgess Road Fire in La Pine.
  • You can't reason with wind or water, but many times you can get out of the way of fire, even if your stuff can't.  I have a list on the wall by our front door reminding me what I want to load into the trailer if we ever do have to evacuate and still have time to pack. Cary added his own wishes to it yesterday.   I am thinking of buying about 5 good laundry baskets to use for transporting stuff from the house to the 5th wheel to make things easier.
  •  I made it through A to Z for the third year in a row!  Well, I had no doubts that I would finish, since I had done it all ahead of time.  But still.  I appreciate all of the new blog friends that I made, and all of my new followers.  And, I appreciate my old friends that made sure to stop by and check on me often. 


  • I now have an hour for lunch on weekdays, and have been driving around Sunriver taking pictures during that time.  I have two new blog posts coming up soon about some boat landings that I have found.  Here are a few of the pictures for now:

This boat landing/parking area is down the dirt road right before Circle 7 when you are coming from Circle 9.  You can park your car there and hike into Benham Falls from here.  I haven't done that yet, but this is a very nice and quiet spot.


Harper's Bridge Boat Landing.  You can only use it if you have a Sunriver zipcode, apparently.

There was a controlled burn going on that day.  You can see Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters in the background.

I guess that is enough for now.  I hope that you are all doing well and that you have a wonderful week!

Hugs to you,

Kathy M.

Update:  I took these on Sunday, the day after the fire.  It doesn't look like so much here, but it must have been during the event.  It is a good thing that they had recently gone through and thinned out the trees and underbrush.





At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.
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11 comments:

Grammy Goodwill said...

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well, then all the changes at work, and a fire to top it all off for you to worry about. Sure hope this week is better.

Sally said...

Wow, those fires look pretty scary. Your photos are amazing, you live in a place of fantastic scenery.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. I hope you're up to snuff again now. Congrats on making it to the A-Z finish line. That's a lotta work!

Take care. Those wildfires are scary as all get-out.

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Sorry you've been under the weather--I have heard that working with little ones will do that to you. Hope you feel better soon.

Glad you didn't get in the way of the fires. Scary stuff, that. But you are smart to have a list! What a great idea. I shouldn't be surprised, because you are always full of great ideas!

Unknown said...

Hi, Kathy! Sorry you're getting all those colds and bugs: it takes a full school year to start building immunity to all those kids' ailments (or that's how long it took me, anyway). And the fires, too? That's too much for a two-week period -- feel better, stay safe!

nutschell said...

great updates, though I'm sorry to hear you've been feeling under the weather. Sending you healing thoughts and hoping you feel better soon!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Hart Johnson said...

Oh, I hope you feel better soon! And that your job stabilizes... I think new jobs always take some adjusting but it's crummy to not feel good as you try to get used to it.

And HOLY COW on those fires! Be careful and stay safe!

Sioux Roslawski said...

Kathy--I hope feeling bad is all behind you now.

As usual, your photos are awesome. I especially love the one with the fence (?) in the foreground. It makes for a striking picture (which is almost always the case when it comes to your art.

KathyB. said...

You ARE busy!
I love the pictures of the boat landings and the area is beautiful. My family is originally from Klamath Falls and we've traveled through that area often. It is very good to see the town was saved from the fire and the fire photos are stunning.

I hope you're feeling better.

Decadent Housewife said...

Just catching up after a busy week too. But not so eventful as yours. Thankful the fires did not affect you. Sorry you've been hit with all the germs - new job - new immune boosters. Same thing happened to me when the grands went into part time daycare.

Linda Reeder said...

Thanks for the update. while i appreciate the work it tool to post your A-Z, it is you I am interested in.
Fire is a very present danger in your neck of the woods. It's good to hear you are prepared. Our weather here has been unseasonably warm, and dry for a while. This could mean a longer, more severe fire season in the PNW.

Kids are germy; they give you the crud. I hope your health and a reasonable balance at work are restored by now.

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