I’ve been cutting firewood and trimming brush. The new chainsaw works well but I’ve had to adjust to the shorter length. I’ve usually cut when the sun is low and I can work in shade. In the morning I clean things up and stack the pieces to continue drying. About half the brush will make kindling but it is fresh, so it is stacked out of the way. I’ve some splitting to do, and then get that under cover.
The Rodeo and Fair (and the crowds) are gone. Local schools are in business, but the University is still 10 days off. Thus, EBRG is sort of calm.
Weather:
Date-wise, the Atlantic “Hurricane Season” is at its average peak with nothing to show for it. The forecasters at NOAA and other places were predicting above-average hurricane activity this year. Oops! And there is nothing showing today – it takes about 5 or 6 days for a disturbance near Africa to cross the Ocean.
Mid-Sept to November will be interesting. Either nothing or “a lot” will have meteorologists searching for explanations.
This image below is of Washington and Oregon. I’m the red star, Seattle is the green circle and Portland is the blue. The snow-covered top of Mt. Rainier is just left of center. The smoke to the Mountain’s SE is from the Goat’s Rocks fire – lightning caused in a rugged area. I spent a week within a few miles of there working on the Pacific Crest Trail.
The wind pattern over me is moving air toward the Cascade Mountains, but slowly.
The entire region is covered with a smokey haze. Mostly this is above me so I don’t smell smoke. It is thin enough that sun shines through. The Portland region is impacted because of the fires there.
https://www.wweek.com/news/environment/2022/09/09/portland-air-quality-deteriorates-as-east-wind-carries-in-wildfire-smoke/
The electrical power has been shut off over a wide region because of the danger of more fires.
I helped bottle wine on Friday. It was a Rosé from last year’s harvest. I left here at 7:30 and got home about 5:30. We had a long lunch at the house; more pleasant with the air conditioning – although it was fine under the shade of a tree near the winery.
That’s it for this week.
From The Naneum Fan
John