An Image and Its Story - February 2019

The shortest month of the year, still, I shot a good amount of photos in relation to the length of the month. The photo that made the cut for February isn't my best or even favorite image, but it summarizes the month perfectly.

Usually I'm more than grateful when it rains because I know that it fills up our reservoirs and gets us safely through the year water wise. But this month just was a bit too much. The "last drop" (pun intended) was the past week's deluge that caused havoc in so many communities along the river. It is still raining (after a two day break) and the forecast promises more rain is on the way.

I'm done with it. Too much of even a good thing is just that - too much.

Still - I feel guilty writing these words since it's not been that long ago that we were in a terrible drought and were waiting for rain that didn't come. It feels wrong not to be thankful, but it is very difficult to feel gratitude when you see the severe damage this flood has caused for so many people. The thankfulness carries a bitter tone with it, but I hope in the end it will survive all the bitterness.

I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain

This James Taylor song came to my mind over the last few days.

Last Monday it started to rain and it didn't stop for the next 48 hours. It wasn't just rain, it was a heavy downpour, a deluge. When the rain finally stopped sometime on Wednesday parts of our county were completely under water. The evacuation orders got out on Tuesday, schools across the county were closed.

It was the highest flood in a generation.

Thursday was a beautiful day with sun, blue sky and little white clouds, so Liz and I decided to go to our lake and see what it looks like. We knew that the park was closed and we had to walk in from the other side. Since I know all the trails away from the lake we were able to get around half of it.

We hadn't quite expected what we saw.

The lake had expanded considerably. This is what it usually looks like (almost same perspective):

Another look:

... and what it usually looks like. This view is from the dam, but the water had come half way up the dam. The treeline in the photo above - those three big pine trees - marks where the trail runs along.

It was shocking and fascinating at the same time. We spent four hours at the lake, exploring. Over and over again, that James Taylor song popped into my head. Yes, we really got our share - firestorm and deluge.

This is a paved path in drier times, now covered by the waters of the lake. I loved the reflections.

This lake is a reservoir designed to hold storm water from several creeks that run into it and it sure was doing its job. But it reminded us of a swamp.

Can you see the little turtle?

When we came to the parking lot at the boat launch, there was nothing there - except water.

Only the day before the water was much higher. You can see it because of all the debris that is left on the road. It's good to see that the water recedes rather quickly.

Under all this water is the parking lot. I've never realized the beautiful view because all I saw was the paved lot. Now it's a lake.

Geese and ducks and other waterfowl were everywhere, enjoying the extended terrain they're having for a few days. They explored the picnic area.

The birds sure loved it. I think they found a lot of nutritious stuff in the wet soil. Robins and California quails were abundant, but we also saw and heard many other birds.

This is one of the creeks that runs into the lake. It looks beautiful, right? It's hard to believe that this area is completely dry in the summer.

The little towns and villages along the Russian River that were evacuated now have to clean up - a huge task. Last night it rained again and there is more rain in the forecast. I just hope it's not another Atmospheric River.

At the End of the Year

The last week in a year is either busy away from home spent on some road trip in the American Southwest or it is very slow and quiet at home. This year we opted to stay at home and just relax. None of us has really felt the spirit of the season. Usually I write a Christmas letter to my friends and family in Germany which gives me the opportunity to look back at the year, but this year I didn't write a single Christmas card, nor a letter. When I try to let the year pass in review there usually are some highlights all over the year that come up, but this year I struggled to remember anything before October.

So I looked at my photos and the memories came back.

The year started out very wet with lots of much needed rain and much (less needed) flooding. I remember there were roads in our county that were completely flooded for days and weeks, parks were closed and the drought finally came to an end - at least for the time being.

I drove to Davis and back several times over the year, sometimes just in order to see Kaefer for a few hours. We visited the cows on campus, saw a powwow, shopped at the farmer's market and helped her moving into an apartment with her friends.

In February family from Turkey came over to visit for a couple days, and we spent a joyful President's Day weekend together, exploring the coast, an old fort and quite some of the wineries in our county.

I took many hikes, either alone, with Kaefer or a friend, and with the Geek. There even were some family hikes that we squeezed in every now and then.

In July we went to Yellowstone. We camped in our favorite campground near Tower Falls, explored the geysers, admired the wonderful colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring, saw wildflowers galore and an abundance of wildlife and, of course, we hiked a lot. This national park is my magical place where I feel whole and at peace. Nature in abundance - this is my church.

In August we were witnessing something we had been waiting for many many years - a total solar eclipse. It was a truly magical moment that left us speechless and completely awestruck.

The summer was long and beautiful. I didn't have to be back at work until the middle of August and I enjoyed having Kaefer at home with me. We got on some hikes, went out for coffee, did some shopping and sometimes just sat together watching some movies. It was hard after those weeks to see her leaving for college again and I missed her a lot at the beginning. But it didn't take too long to get back into the routine. I was busy with my work at both schools, met my friends regularly and was knitting up a storm.



Then October came along.

Even though we are the lucky ones who haven't lost our home I still haven't really recovered from what happened to our community. Everyone here has been affected by the fires some way or other. Even now, almost three months later, the main topic in conversations with friends, acquaintances and strangers is the fire. Everything is still very raw and it is difficult to find some kind of normalcy. For me there is, however, a deep sense of gratefulness for what we have.



What October lacked in autumn colors, November and even December gave us generously. Wine country wore a colorful dress of brilliant yellows, oranges and reds, and even some very fresh green after a few rain showers. Being out in nature started the healing process and even helped to forget that terrible October for a few moments.

May 2018 be a good, healthy and peaceful year for you. My best wishes are going out to you. See you next year!

Then The Road Disappeared...

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and my birthday were on the same day this year (a real honor), and since neither the Geek nor I had to go to work we went to Davis to spend the day with Kaefer. It was the third sunny and dry day in a row which we enjoyed so very much. I had hoped to go to Lake Berryessa and hike there, but on our way there we saw signs that the road was closed due to toppled trees and rock- and mudslides during the recent storms. It was a bit of a disappointment, but then we decided to go to IKEA in Sacramento by taking back roads and thus getting to know the area a bit more.

It's a very flat country there with lots of agriculture. Some might think it's boring, but it actually has its own charm. When we came closer to Sacramento we had to take I-5 because the river road we wanted to drive along was closed due to flooding. However, right when we had crossed the levee the land was much drier and we were able to leave the Interstate and go along the river road.

"The river" is the Sacramento River of course, and it was pretty full, flooding the banks.

I saw birds sitting in the trees, like this yellow-billed magpie that we don't have in our area.

We shopped at IKEA for a while - it's interesting how you always find something there to buy, this store is immensely dangerous - and then decided to go back to Davis via back roads again since I-80 was hopelessly clogged with traffic.

On our way we decided we wanted to see how badly the river road was flooded. While driving on I-5 into Sacramento we had already seen how widely flooded the land was beyond the levee. Now we got closer to it, following the river road...

 until we arrived at this barrier...

behind which the road simply disappeared.

It was completely immersed in water. But where did all this water come from? It was just a small river, much smaller than the Sacramento River - it didn't even have a name on the map!

The trees you can see in the picture above mark the bank of the stream. But the water was everywhere beyond them, forming a huge lake.

Fortunately the railroad tracks were built way above the water (they are familiar with this problem) and so is the Interstate on the other side.

Whereas the road was just swallowed by the water.

It was quite fascinating to see this - I was in awe of what water can do. It will take a while until this land is dry again. We had more rain last week, but at the moment we have a dry spell. We need it right now.

And here's my favorite girl in the world - I am so happy that I could spend my birthday with her. The best gift ever.