Literally. For the last year we’ve been driving by this site
(http://www.hsr.ca.gov/buildhsr/fresno_river_viaduct.html) on our way into Madera, the county seat. It’s the first actual construction to occur on the new California High-Speed Rail system.
The Fresno River runs about a mile to the east of us. The construction site is about 20 miles downstream.
We’re not holding our breath waiting to ride the high-speed train, though. The first trains won’t run until 2025 according to current plans.
Not a very good corn crop this year. But it’s remarkable that the best zinnia and the best sunflower we have this year are both volunteers in the corn patch.
Angela, Sachi and I went to an EMCSPCA fundraiser at the casino last Thursday evening. We left early enough so we had a half hour at the slots, no more. I won $2. The Chukchansi invited a number of local charities to participate in a chance to win up to $10,000 and we got $1,000 just for showing up. The motif was Hawaiian luau and I think we did us proud. Good business and publicity for them and fundraising opportunity for us.
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Phil and Arlin set up a scavenger hunt for my birthday morning. They knew better than to try directions like “take ten paces to the north”, so I had picture clues. The Chia Gnome is from Pauline. Happy Birthday to me.
This may not look like much to you, but it’s a milestone for us. There is now room for a car in the garage (for the first time since we moved in, two years and seven months ago).
Betsy and Arlin have been working like crazy for a long time to get things cleaned up all over the place. Just watching them is exhausting.
Officially, it’s called tar weed. Makes sense because it is kind of rubbery and sticky. But it smells like sage. So, since everything is what I decide to call it, the new name is sort-of-sage instead.
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… was a little too close for comfort, only a couple of miles down the road. Luckily we had reviewed our evacuation plan and this gave us a chance to practice putting it into action. We loaded the cars and then watched the helicopter and the air tankers from the porch. No pre-evacuation notice or evacuation order, but we were ready.
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Dragonfly Ranch 