[Clayart] fires and style of living

[Vince Pitelka]

Gregg Lindsley wrote:
"The upshot of it is, no matter where you live, danger lurks, in many forms. I decided long ago that life is best lived following where the heart leads, keep worry to a minimum, and enjoy."

Thank you Gregg.  You do seem the embodiment of those words.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Retired Faculty, Appalachian Center for Craft
School of Art, Craft & Design, Tennessee Tech University
Now residing Chapel Hill, NC 27516
vpitelka at dtccom.net
sites.tntech.edu/wpitelka/

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:clayart-bounces at lists.clayartworld.com] On Behalf Of Gregg Lindsley
Sent: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 12:38 PM
To: Clayart <clayart at lists.clayartworld.com>
Subject: [Clayart] fires and style of living

Hi all

  thanks to all who responded with their best wishes!!! things are settling down here finally, this mornings satellite maps show a definite halt to both fires. the fire that was aimed at me is 78 % contained. the other one, the biggest one, the ranch fire, seems to have stalled, although the area that is still expanding is heading for the hills, away from populated areas.
  one of the things that has made this whole situation more bearable, and less nerve wracking, is that there is wide spread awareness of a few satellite maps that are available on the internet, and are almost in real time.  using these maps this time, I was able to watch the fire move by refreshing the screen every 30 minutes,  and see the icons showing hot spots move. fabulous!  for the first time, we can actually see what is going on, making it  possible to know when to run and when to stay  put.
Also discovered, (happy happy joy joy for a weather nerd like me), a map called Windy, windy.com, that shows current wind direction and speed, (and a lot more!), for the whole coast, (the whole world actually), with predictions for a week out, and speeds at altitudes to outer space!  cool.
what a tool.  I don't fly planes, and i guess this has been available for years, but this was new to me.
   And, since i am west of the fires, i am pretty much smoke free. the jet stream blows things from west to east, so good when things are smoky, but bad for nuclear fallout, which will come from the coast.
   conditions on the earth are bad, and I suspect conditions, as seen through the eyes ofehuman experience, have always been bad.  For our epoch, the sea is rising, miami and the keys are experiencing a rise in 'normal'
sea level, and other kinds of natural storms seem to be getting stronger.
one of the reasons the fires are so bad here is that there is an awful lot of burnables laying on the ground, lots of fuel that have been accumulating over the centuries.  America is really a rich country, as seen by the amount of wood on the ground. many countries have been picked clean of wood on the ground.
   I  have lived on the east coast, and can't stand the humidity. if i could, i would live in Ithaca, NY. I have helped with the aftermath of category 5 tornadoes, Xenia, Ohio, 12 hours after a tornado struck there, and been in Hurricanes. I choose to live here because it is absolutely beautiful. My cabin and studio are located on the side of Cobb Mountain, and there are 100 foot pine trees every three feet. My little hamlet is called Whispering Pines, population 200.  my kind of living.
I am in the midst of the geothermal steam fields, and i have little earthquakes almost every day, which originate a few miles from me. they are all little, 3.0 and less, and disturb nothing. When the big one hits, i figure that I live far enough inland to possibly wind up with oceanfront property.
   the upshot of it is, no matter where you live, danger lurks, in many forms. I decided long ago that life is best lived following where the heart leads, keep worry to a minimum, and enjoy.
--
Gregg Lindsley
Earth and Fire Pottery
10325 Brookside Drive
Middletown, Ca. 95461
707-490-7168
Function and Beauty
in the Mingei Tradition
www.earthandfirepottery.net
'At home among the lost and found'
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