A long way to Santa Fe…

Fremar Kennel - early 60's

 Yesterday as I was driving west towards a late afternoon yoga class at Santa Fe Community College my thoughts were with the track-of-the-sun, the Jemez Mountains and beyond. I have resided here now 2-dozen years, 6-years longer than my boyhood haunts called the “Southland” (Southern California, or SoCal). I still have so many pleasant memories of the homes I had there. This time of year especially, I make the mental journey back to memories of our place in Malibu. We had a kennel on North Lima Street in Burbank and in early 1960 one at Pacific Coast Highway & Puerco Canyon Road.

Calvin Nursery location

I was twelve when we moved there, an excellent match, but I had relationships with my baseball team in Burbank that I didn’t want to lose; more about that in a few moments. We’d had a champion Bedlington Terrier (Fremar’s Cable Car) make the cover of Sports Illustrated early in 1960, and an opportunity arose where our family kennel, Fremar (for my parents Fred & Margaret), expanded. We were located next to Calvin Nursery and Bowman’s African Violets, and I relished seeing Cindy Bowman’s long red hair & Casey Calvin’s blonde ponytail. Ah, youth at the beach and in-the-canyons… what great times. Positive memories became motivations to return to the area during my National Park Service career.

Now back to some 12 & under baseball memories. I was fortunate to play with some athletic & talented teammates on the Aerol Red Devils: Bill Kuzma, Ken Ziskin, Joe Baldino, Kim Cannon, Steve Ross to name just a few that I can remember (wish I could recall all). On game days I’d get a break from mowing lawns (we had six) and weeding flowerbeds. I’d rise early and commute with my dad to Burbank. He to his job as an engineer with Pacific Bell Telephone, and I to Kuzma’s house off Glenoaks & Buena Vista where we’d “hang” until game time. Bill was our primary pitcher, and Ken our catcher. I backed up both of those postions when not roaming-the-outfield, and Bill & Phil would have some light pre-game warm-up sessions those days: good times. After all these decades I still remember Bill Kuzma’s no-hitter that I caught. Unfortunately, a runner (walk or error) had scored on a wild throw and I noticed their slide left them a couple feet short of home plate. Being new to baseball (2^nd year) & relief-catcher I was unsure what to do, so without looking at umpire, keeping eye on mound and Bill, I initiated a one-way dialogue to the umpire that the runner had never touched home. After the inning, he went to my manager and explained the procedure I needed to follow. Bill was disappointed and I felt bad: lesson learned (the hard way).

Our big rival was Pizza Pantry, led by John Peterson. The 1^st time we played them John pitched his team to a one-sided victory over us, hitting two round-trippers over-the-chain link-fence at McCambridge Park field #2.  Afterwards, my dad, who’d pitched at Glendale High, US Navy & briefly post-WWII, noted to us that John had hit out pitches at his knees and we should try pitching him at-the-letters next time. We did, and rematches were much more competitive from then on (including the 13-16 League).

When I mentioned above that my teammates were talented, they also worked very hard. Bill was our class “Music Man” and “leader of the band,” taking lots of discipline. Ken pursued one of the sports that Burbank High was famous for: swimming. Ken was an All-American at USC. Joe Baldino too always worked hard and became the Bulldogs signal-caller before going onto USC. I was always slow to evolve, but THANKS to so many teammates along the way I’m still playing (of course nowadays its usually with incident management teams at emergencies). I hope ALL our former colleagues are well and continue to do-good… As for me, I have some more musings to contemplate about looking over the wall and PCH to the Pacific. 

Traditional Cultural Property… and the beat goes on…

A few days ago I ventured out for a visit to an archaeological and historic area called the stone circles. It was my first trek into the site, but was guided by another site steward, Gordon Groff, that had been there before. Enroute… sorry this post was interrupted suddenly by a dispatch to the Tres Lagunas incident (fire). Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos, New Mexico. It has been a late and slow-to-evolve fire season this year in the American Southwest, but it has taken of now (with three Type 2 & one Type 1 fires). I was on the Tres Lagunas for about a week. I got released (demobed) to attend a family function (reunion) in Arizona that I’d been coordinating for several months. Now, I’m awaiting another fire assignment as a Safety Officer.

           

The Tres Lagunas fire started on private property, in Pecos Canyon, when a tree branch came down in high winds and brought down a power line. Within 24-hours this would happen again in the Jemez Mountains starting the Thompson Ridge blaze (also Santa Fe National Forest) as it had 2-years before igniting the Las Conchas  fire(the largest fire in state history at the time). Power line rights-of-way  (ROW) apparently aren’t being maintained well; the power companies are saying they need to double & triple width, but I doubt that will be a solution unless the enlarged ROW is maintained. I also wonder if Wildearth Guardians and others will go along with wider ROW?

        My 1^st day on the line following them we pulled off-the-line shortly after noon as the line wasn’t going to hold. Other efforts at “point protection” (resources and values at risk) and direct, indirect line building, and evening burnouts (reducing fuels between head of fire and our control lines) became effective: thank you weather.

  The Tres Lagunas had some very steep line punched in by Hotshot Crews (Type I), that have experience and know when to say no...

            

Mom & Aunt Virginia

At the family get-together, my sisters & I were joined by my Aunt Virginia (Ventura, CA) and many cousins from the West Coast. We convened in Gilbert, AZ, to visit my mom, as she is unable to travel any longer. Sure it was hot there, but even Yosemite Valley hit 105 F on Saturday. Many thanks to my cousins (1^st & 2^nd) that traveled to the desert in June: Steve, Shannon, Patrick, Alison, Ray, Rick & Grace, Nancy & Aubrey, Tracy, and of course my sisters Chris & Laura and nephew Evan & his spouse Grace and their family. We were ALL able to re-connect briefly and visit. Mom enjoyed that…

            Now I await my next fire assignment, and note that though available in the national resource data base, the Southwest Coordination Center was unable to fill a Safety Officer resource order yesterday. This has happened way to often, and I harken back to a comment of my 1^st Type I  Team Incident Commander: “The Santa Fe Zone has a reputation for being inept.” I’ve had my own personal experiences, and apparently “the beat goes on…”