June 14, 2017 The Julian News 5
PATCHWORK PARTY
with
Eleanor Burns
Presented by Julian Women's Club
Saturday June 24, 2017 at Town Hall
Show Time is 11:00. Tickets are $15.00 each,
Contact Janet Bragdon 760.76%465
• The Rooster Crows No More
Mayhem in the Chicken coop[ There was a head--a HEAD--(a
chicken head, we hasten to say, not a cat head which would have
been much worse or a human head which, depending on the human,
might have been...we won't go there) on the plank next to the water
thingy. The body, that of Arnold our Speckled Sussex Rooster, was
elsewhere, mostly eaten.
Arnold was a sweetie, loved being petted. He was also Our Hope
for pure bred Speckled Sussex chicks.
However you cut it, this wasn't a pleasant morning surprise. This
was the second chicken to be eaten by an Invader and to add insult to
injury, the Invader wasn't eating the old and decrepit hens, past their
best laying years, or even Donald, the big yellow rooster who could
be done without. They ate one of the Buff Orpingtons and Arnold,
the Speckled Sussex rooster. The SWEET Specked Sussex rooster.
So we set a trap with the hope of catching the miscreant. Actually,
we've set the trap several times. We have caught three hens and a
cat to date.
The problem, of course, is what to do when you find a cute little
or even ess-cute raccoon in the trap. Shoot it? We're afraid of
ricochets and buliets in the trap mesh or letting the coon out and
missing it or...okay, we're a wuss about bullets in close quarters. The
alternative, of course, is to drown it which we're perfectly capable of
doing but i{ means then emptying out the large horse drinker. Neither
of these alternatives is pleasant.
The last time we wrote about drowning a Miscreant caught in the
chicken coop ("This morning I drowned a possum before breakfast...")
soft-hearted readers objected. One suggested we "fix the holes in
the chicken coop floor." Since the floor is dirt this is difficult. There
is a small separate area where we have put chicken wire under the
dirt. This is used for baby chicks so they can be safe until they grow
large enough to go Out with the Big Chickens but the Big Chickens
enjoy quite a lot of room as chickens should. Too much to fix easily
or, more to the point, in any really economical way. Drowning works
better.
But first we have to catch the Miscreant. Or hope that he has
departed for other fields of endeavor.
It's estimated that the average person will burn 100 calories in just 14
minutes of tennis,
by Michele Harvey
Another Fire Season Revisited
I originally wrote this column in May of 2014. Three years later I
like to remind us all that this could easily happen again. Let's all be
vigilant and careful.
May 14th will undoubtedly be remembered locally as the official
opening of the 2014 fire season because 9 fires began and were
battled that day in western San Diego County. Earlier in the year,
minor brush fires were fought all around the county, but May 14th
was a really long day for San Diego County fire fighters. Tonight, the
night of May 15th, I sit here, over an houris drive from any of the fires
and I smell smoke. Tonight I see lots of posts on Julian facebook
pages from people who are anxiously smelling smoke, hoping it isn't
from a nearby fire. In 1984, the first year I lived in Julian, a major fire
broke out in Poway. Living in the townsite of Julian, higher than Main
Street, we actually saw puffs of the Poway smoke heading east and
drifting above Main Street Julian. Ever since then, I don't get overly
worried when I smell smoke because I know its origin can be far
away. However, I feel more relaxed once I find out where it's coming
from, especially if it's not coming from a brush or building fire close
to my home.
The 2014 fires began on Wednesday and ironically, my son Thomas
and I began whacking all of the grasses on our property to bare
ground the day before, on Tuesday. It seems that many of our friends
who live near us made the same decision. Lots of us are doing what
we can to make our properties more defensible against fire, the four
letter word beginning with "F".
This week I trimmed extra close around tree trunks so flames will
have a more difficult time laddering up our trees if fire enters our
property. Our former Fire Chief Kevin Dubler once told me that fiat
vegetation doesn't burn as well as tall vegetation. Today we continued
to flatten a whole lot of our vegetation. Cutting down dead limbs and
any tree limbs that we can reach is one great way to flatten any weeds
and tall grasses that grow beneath the trees. Hoeing the weeds
around trees helps to make them safer. Just 12" of bare dirt all the
way around tree trunks helped save some of our trees from the rush
of fire that blasted through our grove of trees during the Cedar Fire.
I think I write a column at least once each year asking people to
be good neighbors by keeping all possible fire fuel to a minimum.
One way to do this is by cutting down all weeds and raking them into
piles. I keep our piles under 3 feet in height. I'm not sure why I think
this is a good height; it just works well for me. Having piles that are
surrounded by dirt gives a property some defensible space because
dirt doesn't burn, so if the piles of grass and weeds catch on fire, the
fire doesn't spread across the ground.
I remember a scene in the movie Mommie Dearest where Joan
Crawford bellows at her daughter, "No wire hangerst" This week I feel
like bellowing, "No more firesV
We didn't have to evacuate for The Pines Fire in July of 2002, though
we knew plenty of people who did. We evacuated for The Cedar Fire
in October of 2003 and for the Witch Fire in 2007. Evacuating our
home, collecting our animals and making sure we have transportation
for all of our necessaries and a place to go is so incredibly mentally
exhausting. It's so good to have an evacuation plan before needing it.
If you have several people evacuating that need to meet up someplace
out of danger, try to decide where that will be before evacuating. Keep
a supply of food and water in your vehicle at all times for the day you
may need them. Getting stuck for several hours behind a temporary
road closure is reason enough to have snacks and water with you.
Evacuating for a true emergency is an even moreimportant reason to
keep these supplies with you. We
can't plan ahead when we will
need to evacuate, so it's good to
think about the things we need to
take with us.
Planning for any emergency
that requires people to evacuate
and drive to a possibly far away
location is a good reason to
keep at least a half tank of gas in
your vehicles. I try to keep even
more than a half tank of gas in
my car. When we evacuated for
the Cedar Fire, we drove east
through Julian, down to the
desert, north to Temecula, and
then west to Del Cerro. That
used up a lot of gas.
One thing we learned as we
evacuated ahead of the Cedar
Fire was to keep a copy of our
electric bill in a vehicle or in
a purse or wallet. When we
needed to return to our house
during an evacuation, we needed
proof of our residence to show
law enforcement. Phone bills
don't necessarily have a street
address on them. Since our
mail is delivered to a post office
box and not to a street side mail
box, keeping a bill with our street
address with us was critical.
Our property is easily
accessible for fire engines. We
have a driveway that loops onto
and then off of our property
giving fire engines a chance
to enter and exit our property
without having to turn around.
If you have easy access for fire
equipment, put a sign at the
base of your driveway, letting
emergency personnel know that
they will be safe if they enter your
property. It's also good to put
a sign at the beginning of your
driveway telling sheriffs or other
law enforcement that everyone
on your property has gone. This
saves a lot of time. I get really
angry at people who don't leave
when staying serves no purpose.
Some people may be vital if they
stay. First responders such as
CERT trained individuals can
assist emergency workers. Most
of us however, just get in the way
of those who have an important.
job to do.
If you have a true emergency,
call 911. If you have questions
about non-emergency situations
like seeing smoke that may be
far away from you but still scary
visible, call 211.
These are my thoughts
• "t"
Local
years
lIT Local E erience Since 1988
* Tree Consulting and Inspection
* Long Term Forest Maintenance and Planning
* Hazardous Removal and Precision Felling
* Ornamental Pruning and Lacing
* Brush Clearing and Chipping
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ERIC DAUBER
H: 760-765-2975
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PO Box 254
JULIAN, CA.
92036
License #945348
WE-8690A
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continued on page 15~?
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OO0
7904 Ronson Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
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