As of 4:30 this morning Dad is back in his house. He says that for the first time since Sunday he can see the mountains south of his house. He also said he slept pretty well in his van. He is doing well and it appears that the fire has passed by him and his neighbors.
Month: October 2007
Dad’s house and the fires.
My Dad lives in Escondido whichi s north of San Diego. The fires are quite close to his house. He and all his neighbors received reverse 911 calls yesterday telling them to evacuate. He evacuated to the Escondido Presbyterian Church. It is not too far from his house and he is with friends. He slept in his van in the church parking lot last night.
The neighbors all went back home this morning and Dad thought the fire had passed them by but he just called to say that the fire is at the bottom of his hill less than a mile a way. It hasn’t crossed the road but they are all evacuating again to be safe. I still think his house will be OK but it is not a sure thing. I’ll keep you all posted.
Sierra Canyon Hiking Group Thursday hike – Coldstream Canyon
I haven’t hiked for two weeks so today’s hike was hard but beautiful. There was lots of snow which made the hiking hard. Especially going up.
To get to the Coldstream Trail trailhead we took the Donner pass Road exit off of I80. We followed a gravel road to the east of the Donner State Park Camp ground. We went quite a ways on this road until we came to a horseshoe bend in the railway tracks where we parked, crossed the tracks and headed up. In about half a mile we passed Lost Trail Lodge which looks like a wonderful place to stay.
From there we headed through forest for several miles. The trail was covered in snow. it was fun to see all the animal tracks. There were coyote, deer and rabbits tracks and several others we weren’t sure about. Hiking in the snow was hard work but we had the trail to ourselves and the temperature was around 40 so it wasn’t too cold.
We were heading south towards Tinker’s Knob. We made it to 8250 feet at the ridge before the final climb to Tinker’s Knob. It was drizzling and gray so there was no view. the snow kept getting deeper so we decided to turn back. I think we did about 6 miles total.
Here we are near the top. I am the one with the white pants. If you want to see all the pictures of this hike they are here.
Where I Blog
Ronni Bennett of the Time Goes By Blog recently started a feature on her blog with pictures of where other Elder Bloggers blog. It is aptly titled Where Elders Blog. I just sent my picture of my blogging space to Ronni. I am sure she will post it soon.
If you don’t want to go to her page I thought I would also include the picture here.
As you walk in the front door of our house the office is to your right. This picture is taken from the front door entry way. Duke’s desk is on the opposite wall of the office from mine. We have only lived in our house for three months so I am still getting organized.
And here is a picture of our house. The white stuff is snow.
I think I will do a future posting with pictures of our neighborhood and what it is like to live in a Del Webb community. Does anyone have any questions they would like answered or anything I should include?
Presidential Courage by Michael Beschloss
I just finished reading Presidential Courage by Michael Beschloss. Before reading the book I thought it was just about Wahington, Lincoln, Truman and Reagan, the four presidents on the back cover. It turns out however that the book is also about the courage of Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and John Adams.
Beschloss doesn’t paint these Presidents as one sided heroes. He tells of their strugles and wrong turns and their courgeous acts. It made me optimistic about our country to read about presidents who did the right thing in spite of incredible opposition. Andrew Jackson took on the Bank of the United States which history shows was lending money and thus influencing many elected leaders. Republican Teddy Roosevelt took on trusts that thought they owned the government and especially the Republican party. Ronald Reagan made peace with the Soviets alienating much of the right wing of his party.
As I read Presidential Courage I was intrigued to realize that a President sticking to an unpopular policy could and probably would find validation in this book. He would define what he was doing as presidential courage. Of course if history shows the policy to be bad for the country The president will probably not be remembered as courageous.I wonder is courage is something that only can be measured in the full disclosure of history?
Presidnetial Courage is an interesting, thought provoking and readable book. I recommend it.
Marion's Blog 
