then i died 

My 'noir' costume 

Around 9 AM, October 27th, 2006...

At this time, a fire driven by santa ana winds caught 5 firefighters who were defending a structure. Four have died, and the fifth is in critical condition. My friend at work knew Mark Loutzenhiser, the engine captain.

Most of you have probably already heard about this. At this time it looks like the fire was caused by arson. It did not even bring regrowth and revitalization to the ground it burned, because it burned in an area which has suffered too many human-caused fires already. Four good people have died beacuse of this... and I hope it does not become 5. I work in the mountains every day, and so do many close friends. The whole thing was unnecessary. I hope anyone else who would light a fire during such wind conditions would realize what a pointless and stupid thing this is to do.

My cottonwood is doing well. It looks like it might not have to worry about being shipped off to Flagstaff. 

More of my haircut 

My new haircut 

My attempts at sketching a frog I saw in the field. I thought it might be a rare species but it was a common type of tree frog. 

My muddy car, after going to Hidden Valley with John and Will 

Green Valley from Grass Mountain 

Poison oak on a Bigcone Spruce (or Bigcone Douglas-Fir if you prefer, or Pseudotsuga) 

A little maple 

Two maples in Spruce Gulch 

Painful but very pretty poison oak 

There are a few lonely beavertail cacti on the edge of the basin. 

This area looks like a Japanese garden. 

The valley is filled with very stunted scrubby junipers, and the remnants of other shrubs killed by fire. 

This is Necktie Basin, a strange hollow on Warm Springs Mountain. Local stories hold that it is so named because someone was hanged here... however there are only a few very sick cottonwoods in the valley, so it would probably have been easier to just to shoot him. The basin is covered in rocks with some desert plants. It is a weird place, probably haunted or something. 

Up the creek about .1 miles there is a little seep... it mostly just consists of wet soil but if you dig a little hole in the sand, it fills with water. A few cattails and a cottonwood and a few willows are growing here. If you see cottonwoods and willows in this part of the world, it usually means water is nearby. 

Marek Creek during the driest time of the year. Within the next month, rains will hopefully come, and water may come down this creek again. It is normal for the creek to be dry in early fall, but last year was so wet it ran all year. 

A small Coulter Pine with the ashes of the Pines Fire in the background 

Back over the bridge 

an understory of bad, bad plants. 

Lake near Mt Tam. 

A spillway and a pool. 

wine country under a building storm. It rained all night and part of the morning. 

Big-leaf Maples in fall color