25 Years Later

It's been 25 years.  Like so many people I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.  It was just horrifying.  

We remember Marcy Borders. May this image of her continue to shake us and remind us of the lasting trauma and devastation affecting those who “survive” machinations of mass murder. The former Bank of America worker was dubbed the “Dust Lady” ­after a photographer snapped a photograph of her stricken and caked with ash after fleeing the World Trade Center. Marcy battled addiction, severe depression, paralyzing fear, and sickness before succumbing to stomach cancer in 2015. 
Only a month into her new bank job, Marcy was at work in the North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001, when a plane crashed into the building. Instead of staying at her desk, as her boss had ordered, she fled the building and ran into the street with fellow survivors. A stranger pulled her into a building lobby just as the North Tower collapsed — and it was then that a photographer captured her terrified face in the photo that has since been seen around the world.
Posted by The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center 

I could go on about 47 sleeping through the Pentagon ceremony, but I think I'll just give it a rest.

Riding and the Middle East in Flames

It's been raining here.  Rain is good, the grass likes it, and we don't have to water.  The temperatures have also dropped so it's not so steenking hot.  Our first summer (2021) here was very temperate, since then, they've been hot.

Saturday we walked up the trail towards the big rock.  That's over.  The area is covered in basalt rocks, which used to be covered in years worth of previous years of vegetation, pine needles and moss.  Now the rocks are exposed and they are very unpleasant to walk on.  The other issue is the amount of dust/ash that the feet stir up, probably not good for the lungs.  I will miss that trail.

Today we rode to the lake, the temperature was a little chilly but it was ok.  The trails were wet from last night's rain, and they are covered in pine needles.  Jim is out using bug and tar remover to get the pitch off the bikes.  Pitch is the work of the devil.  (Jim has just announced Goof Off actually works way better than bug and tar remover.)  I think the park people have been out cutting up more dangerous trees.  There are literally thousands of trees that will be removed, both because they're damaged, and to meet the new spacing standards.
 

The milfoil continues its march toward world domination.  At some point the park service is going to have to start poisoning the plants.  They're very hard on fish, they lower oxygen levels in the water, block sunlight, and prevent boating, swimming, and skiing.  It will never be completely gone, but containment needs to start soon.

I am somewhat embarrassed to post the following photo.  This is a van we saw at the lake, and then back at the parking lot.  I am so taken by the interior decor, I feel I must share it. Anyway, fur, skulls and dice, what more could a person ask for in a van?

Currently the middle east is on fire again, missiles are flying everywhere.  The Iranians have captured the first US unmanned submarine.  They have it on display currently and are planning on reverse engineering subs of their own.  47 did this.

And on that happy note, this is what happens if you're racist while flying.

Recent Photos, No Politics for a Change

I have some photos that have not been put in the blog.  Sloth, I suppose.  The first was taken with Jim's cell phone.  His phone is newer than mine and has a better camera.  My night time photo technique is to press the phone against my forehead, using my head as a tripod.  It does steady the camera, and it also looks really stupid to anyone who sees you.  Anyway, the eclipse.  

It was kind of cool how the eclipsed part looked bright and shiny.

These were taken closer to the 9 Mile Recreation area.  I am so grateful than the fire fighters were able to save it.  The fence burned up, but everything else is safe.  This is what's left of a lot of trees.  Carbon.

These trees are cut up for removal.  They've become dangerous trees due to fire damage.

My theory, unencumbered by facts or data, is that the holes were caused by smoldering stumps.  They sat there and smoldered until they were used up.  The dirt looks like that because it's mineralized, all the organic material has burned.

Spokane had volcanoes a zillion years ago.  The  volcanoes leaked basalt out the sides of the cones.  Those rocks are basalt.  This had to make life difficult for the people cutting fire breaks.  Hopefully they had power tools.

Today we rode down the Aubrey Wright parkway to see what we would see.  Fortunately the really cool neighborhood that fronts on the water was spared.  There was a lot of devastation in the housing behind them that fronts on Nine Mile.  It's so weird, one house will be left untouched, and the two on either side of it are burned to the ground.  We continued on and looked at the Rifle Club which was completely destroyed.  Then we saw this.  At first I thought it was a new fire forming.  It's not, it's a dust devil that is picking up dirt from the fires.  It had pretty fast rotation.  After it sputtered out, a cyclist coming towards us shouted out "that was crazy!"  He's right.

This is a house just outside of our gate.  It recently sold.  It got a new roof.

There was also excavation, I'm thinking for the sewer.  Look at the left side of the photo.  That is a window well that has been removed.

It was interesting how much work was being done at once.  It's done now, the guy running the power tool did a good job replacing the lawn that was disturbed.

So, that's what we've seen and done recently.  

Television interview and a Ride to the Lake

I think it was Tuesday that we drove out to see if the trail to the lake was open.  It was!  Yay!  We had planned to ride yesterday, but the smoke rolled in.  That was disappointing.  So, we went to Costco to buy toilet paper.  It's expected that prices for tp will increase significantly now that 47 has put tariffs on Canada.  Wood pulp for toilet paper comes from Canada. 

Yesterday we were on television.  A reporter came and interviewed us about our experiences evacuating.  We were chosen because Jim wrote an email to three members of the City Council about our experience evacuating and included posts from Nextdoor about other residents' experiences.  He also sent it to three members of the local media. There is a lot of concern in the public about how difficult it was to evacuate on Indian Trail due to traffic volumes, and watching flames in their rear view mirrors.  This concern is exacerbated by the fact that a 300 unit apartment complex is moving through the planning commission process, which will put an additional 300-600 cars on Indian Trail, a main evacuation route.  So Madeleine Mullins from KXLY came to our house, carrying a big honking tripod with a camera on it, and talked with us.  She's very likeable.  Most of it was edited out, but I think we presented well and did not sound like wingnuts.  The article and the interview can be found here.  The video starts playing muted, so look in the lower left hand corner and click on the sound sign with the slash through it.

Today we rode to the lake.  The heat was off, the air quality was good, and it was just a stellar day.  The park employee previously told us the fire had burned to the fence and the recreation area.  Actually it burned the fence as well.  The was no water, and no fire retardant, so I'm not sure how they put it out.  

There is a  really good article about why Spokane did not run out of water while fighting the fires.  It also mentions the fact that the waste water treatment plant ran for 18 hours and performed perfectly with either no staff, or minimal staff.  Previous urban fires have done terrible damage because their water systems could not hold up to the demand.  In this instance Spokane did get the infrastructure right.

I have a photo from the other night. Today's original post had to be deleted because it was infected with css code that was not only messing with that post, but everything I've ever published. I have no idea how this happens. Hopefully I will get lake pictures up at some time in the future.  Right now I would just like to be done with this.

Sun set.

 OK, I quit.

Dolly Parton Has Left Us

This is one of the nicest tributes to Dolly that I've seen today.

That is all.

Canada and Joanne

This is part of the reason Canada bailed on the trade negotiations.  When the team from Canada arrived, they thought they had the agreement that had emerged the prior week.  Instead the people from the US pulled these things out.  No way would this be accepted, especially interference with Quebec.

Dairy Market Access: The U.S. demanded that Canada alter its supply management system and accept Washington's interpretation of how dairy licensing and market access should be allocated for American farmers. [1, 2]

Removal of Retaliatory Measures & Provincial Bans: Washington called for Canada to drop all retaliatory tariffs, for provincial governments to end bans on sales of U.S. alcohol, and to scrap "Buy Canadian" procurement policies. [1]

Industrial & Auto Sector Terms: The U.S. introduced last-minute terms targeting Canada’s auto sector and production rules. [1]

Digital and Media Regulations: The U.S. pressed for an overhaul of Canadian online streaming and tech laws, which Washington asserted discriminated against American digital and media firms. [1]

External Trade Autonomy: The U.S. pushed for restrictions on Canada's independence to pursue separate free trade deals with other international nations. [1]

Language and Culture Protections: The U.S. targeted specific Canadian laws designed to safeguard and protect the French language and Canadian cultural heritage. 

Labor Alignment & Enforcement: Washington demanded that Ottawa strictly align its regulatory approaches and information sharing regarding forced labor and child labor. The U.S. sought to use these restrictions as economic leverage over Canadian supply chains. 

Automotive Refusals: While the U.S. initially offered to lower existing auto tariffs from 25% to 15%, it introduced restrictive production terms and flatly rejected Canada's counter-demands for lower tariffs on heavy trucks. 

Total Rescission of Retaliation: The U.S. demanded that Canada entirely drop its previous counter-tariffs without the U.S. providing parallel concessions on major Canadian exports like lumber, steel, or aluminum. 

There's so much more to say about the orange ball of crud, but I think I'll give it a rest.  

The news of Joanne's death has sort of taken the stuffing out of me.  Ellen did a wonderful write up, so I think I'm going to purloin her work, which you can find here.  Joanne was truly a woman of substance.