Abstract Thursday : : Lines and Shadows*

Heavy frost this morning meant a very brisk walk.
A drive over Fountaingrove Parkway after a two week break revealed great progress on clearing lots. It is impossible to miss the army of trucks, heavy with debris* blasting out of side streets... In fact, one can only pray that they miss you as they barrel down the steep hill of the parkway. Two weeks ago a truck 'lost its brakes' and ran out of control through a red light at a busy intersection with the freeway at the bottom of the parkway. It hit a vehicle, critically injuring two women who had just been to visit the remains of their burned home. Another vehicle burst into flame, closing the very intersection where flames jumped the freeway in October.

It is unclear how many people are going to rebuild, which is the only option for many who wish to remain in the county. It is also apparently the best option for reimbursement from insurance, but it is difficult to find contractors, laborers and reliable cost estimates. I think I would consider a prefabricated home. Many of them are attractive, well designed, and come ready to install, leaving the homeowner with only the infrastructure to contract instead of the entire home. I even read about one company in Austria that sends a team of  cabinet makers to erect the house.  At this point, there don't seem to be anywhere near enough reliable builders in the state to fill the demand. I love the concept of a bunch of guys in lederhosen and loden caps with feathers putting together my house....I don't suppose it really works that way....

With our luck the entire house would get lost in transit. We were watching the 'big air, half-pipe whatever' last night.  Well, we were kind of watching it. When we looked up from whatever else we were doing, we realized that the sound was still working fine, but there was no picture. We're hoping we just pushed the wrong button (or sat on it) and it can be easily sorted out by son-in-law Jim. I'm happy to entertain him anytime, but I'm getting a little tired of entertaining the parade of technicians that come through the house with messages like 'intermittent issues' or 'we ordered the wrong backordered part' 

* The circle of life continues to circle around here. This blue agave 'pup' was just a tiny plant when we moved here, but now that we have removed the huge one in the front of the house, this one has gotten quite big. I love the way the 'fronds' imprint their patterns on each other.

**How sad that the remains of homes and lives are now relegated to 'debris', but such is the case....There is an April deadline for having all lots cleared, and anybody who can beg, borrow or steal large dump truck has pressed into service. Belatedly, the county is conducting brake inspections and putting up big flashing signs that say, TRUCKERS...STEEP HILL AHEAD.