Monday the internet declared air quality in Benicia to be “acceptable” but our noses thought

not so, though the dogs were nuts without a walk, we sheltered in place and after loading up

I headed out for better air, finding it increasingly improved beyond Vacaville.  Though 89 was

crowded, stranding me much of the way to Sierraville [where for some reason a sign indicated fire danger was “Low” though it sure didn’t look it] behind a Caltrans water truck and construction between Vinton and Chilcoot took some time otherwise things went well.

A creepy couple [not shown] were begging for gas at Hallelujah Junction, the 13 miles out

of Doyle, though graded four weeks ago, were already bone-jarring washboard [how do they do THAT?] – Cali tax dollars at work – all of which made me more than happy to escape that Sorry State at the Nevada line.  From there the road up the desert was clear, cool and,

except for Washoe County out in force replacing the Smoke Creek Bridge, quiet.

I stopped at Sand Pass for coffee and a bite of last night’s bbq chicken, blew through Bonham

[gone now except the waters and the tamarisks] and was at the Wall Spring gate

at three to unload and walk the ponds

before darkness fell, coldly.

That night news came in from Dave on Cape Breton that more than a year ago our trailer

in the Owyhee had experienced a meltdown…the end of a memorable era begun in 1987* and a small loss compared to what so many are experiencing these troubled days.  Also, truth

be told, no one of us had visited in some time. It was always a bit difficult to access…

Next morning, first morning…hey, what’s this? Oh just insulators replaced from the power line LADWP maintains between the Columbia River and Los Angeles.  Being a Municipal Utility they’re a bit more assiduous about keeping up with their infrastructure than some people…**

Anyway, next morning, first morning, out around the ponds; much colder than it might look – 20 degrees with winds from the northeast making it feel somewhat chiller than that.

Fall had been in the air but was being blown away rapidly…

Wednesday it was more of the same, down to eighteen with hopes Logan would show up with the propane truck and get the heater working…which never happened.

But it remained a gorgeous day, necessitating wood fires at breakfast and dinner,

a vast load of willowroot thanks to Tara taken to the burnpile,

with passive solar good enough in

between

…and the radio, oh, we won’t go into the radio.*** Better listening to “Lullaby from the Hearts of Space” which Serge gave us last year when we saw him in Paris. Much better.

Thursday began with another promise of heater-fixing, so we stayed around

[nowhere particular to go, anyway] all day,

started refilling the oickup with more of Tara’s cuttings

and finally John called at day’s end to say he’d gone to Dave’s by mistake, had called Dave [in Nova Scotia] to discover it wasn’t his problem and then returned to Silver Springs without checking next door. At lunch on the porch I’d seen a white utility truck headed east

but never suspected…

*Actually really a history as far back as 1977 when I tentatively ventured in to Drummond Basin at the end of an annual October trip after dropping Dave in Boise…who didn’t set foot on the ground there until late 1986 when we helicoptered in, shortly after which he purchased a quarter section where the rivers met. The next summer we dragged a 28″ Argosy in overland… and rocks.

**Although, bad luck, a LADWP installation was found to be responsible for one of the fires in southern California recently…though it was really caused by a rogue eucalyptus limb so maybe, throwing stones backwards, the blame lies with the Australians.

*** Suffice it to say that the Trumpists’ set-up to lure the Dems into the quagmire of  Impeachment is working perfectly for them; clever Trumpists!  As Bernie said, they had [nor were given] no choice…but to stand on principle and, most likely, go down in flames.