Did I suggest in yesterday's post that it's never dull in our neighborhood?
I received a text from my sisters, announcing "We're in Oklahoma!" while driving over to put their dogs in the house, just in case the predicted gusty winds turned out to be as advertised.
It was definitely the calm before the storm, but those turkeys in the photo below seemed to have an inkling that something unsettling was about to happen. They had a strategy going: best, travel in a large group and stay close together.
Later, I saw the same behavior among a herd of deer in my front yard. Animals sense these things.
I had stopped along the roadside to take their photo when I received the text. To which I wrote back: Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.
Laurie agreed to that, and then I told them the wind was just starting to sweep down the plain along Center Valley Road.
I put the dogs in, and by the time I arrived home, that wind was whooping it up. So, I told my dogs to come to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon peeling apples for applesauce.
Later, while munching on some pizza, I was watching the news where talking heads were going at it. Hearing a siren, I figured it must have been on the TV until suddenly I saw flashing lights and a fire truck racing past.
Of course, out here in the neighborhood, folks could possibly be accused of ambulance chasing cuz wherever those emergency vehicles are headed, we probably know the people.
So, I dashed out to the road and saw the engine stop up by Jack Filipowski's barn. Worried that something might have happened to Jack, I jumped in the car and, by the time I reached his place, the engine had gone up the road and had turned into our neighbor Anne Coward's driveway.
I saw a white pickup just up the road with lights flashing. It was Jack, and he was keeping an eye on things. He told me a fire had started at the place behind Anne's.
This morning I know much more about what happened. Anne told me that Kerry Berg, a neighbor, supplied the aerial photo and that she and a friend bought the land behind her 40 acres, which has returned her place back to its original 80 acres.
She also told me that the fire started after a tree fell on a power line and spread quickly. Fortunately, someone was hunting in the area and called authorities soon after the fire started.
Those winds, however, (with some gusts reportedly clocked at 70 mph over on Lake Pend Oreille) caused damage all around the area.
This morning, Bill urged me to drive past Murray's place on my way to feed my sisters' dogs. Murrays live less than a quarter mile from our house, and Bill wanted me to see the downed trees which he had passed last night on his way home from a meeting.
The trees are pictured below. They too came in contact with a power line. Ironically, we never lost power here, but folks east of us did.
All afternoon, I also kept an eye on the slash burns along a mountainside west of HWY 95 and just north of my sisters' place.
As winds continued, that scene evolved from a series of about three streams of smoke to a very noticeable and billowy plume. Bill said fire crews were sent up there also.
So, it was a crazy and active day in the neighborhood from start to finish. This morning, we'll walk around and assess how many trees might have fallen in our forest and begin the task of cleaning up all the debris which as been strewn about.
Again, never a dull moment and, as always, alert folks in the neighborhood and professional crews did their part in seeing that a bad situation did not get worse.
For that, we are all thankful.
Happy Wednesday.
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