No Leaves to Blow

Our neighbor or her gardener were constantly blowing leaves from her driveway. They even blew the leaves from the deep drainage gulley between our houses. It is ironic that not only did her house burn down, but every single leaf on her property, including all the ones on the big oak trees beside her driveway are gone...vaporized into a ghostly white ash generated by the burning leaves.

Our trees in the foreground are covered with dead and dying leaves, fried from the heat of the fire next door. We learned today that the fire at our house was put out with one neighbor’s fire hose (he’s a retired firefighter) and water from another neighbor’s swimming pool.

Our gardener came today with his crew and began work cutting down all the burned plants. It’s hot out there and they are working in the direct sun with chain saws and picks. So far they’ve filled a big dump truck with burned olive plants and dead agaves. The big agave in our front yard looks like a giant pineapple.

As I was looking out the back window, I saw three, then four, then five goldfinches bathing in the birdbath. They don’t mind communal bathing and must be coated in ash and dust.
I also saw a butterfly which lifted my heart as we haven’t had many lately...

We’ve just received a red flag fire warning extending from tomorrow morning through Friday due to high temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. Surely there can’t be that much left here to burn, but it’s sure to mean that a power shutoff is coming....