london town is burning down

goodbye angora lake... wow. huge swaths of land in my beloved south lake tahoe are under a siege of flames. the inferno has been surging through the area since yesterday, and they're saying it's 40% contained. if the winds come through, though, the fire could do some more serious damage to the habitat and to property.

that's the idiosyncrasy of wildfire-- if allowed to burn through areas on a regular basis, it comes through as a low-grade burn and does what it's naturally intended to do. that is, it clears out the detritus, the fallen leaf litter and accumulated plant matter, and promotes recycling of nutrients back into the soil. some species of plants (like the mighty sequoia) even rely on the heat of regular burns to reproduce-- only in the heat of low-grade burns do their cones open and release seeds. the monkey wrench is human inhabitants... because scenic areas are also becoming popular vacation and tourist destinations, there is an increasing abundance of structures that need protection from such fires. the forest service in the area does conduct prescribed burns, but clearly it was not enough in this case.

i'm glad to hear that so far there are no human casualties, but i do hope that some of the pristine habitat in the area can be preserved...

tay tracker
today's result: l (2-5)
innings pitched: 1.0
current era: 6.00

a less-than-auspicious start on the east coast (although he had a few strikeouts in his last outing), but give him a few games to get his feet beneath him. even though he's not in cali to cheer on in person, please send well-wishes his way so he can get back to cali sooner!