It has been a long time since I
posted anything; last time was a quick blurb between fire assignments on the
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests (OWF), and I forgot to mention that when
the Washington State Trooper learned that I was a retired Ranger/Special Agent
he immediately asked: “Do you know Mike Butler?” (retired SA from Olympic National Park). My face & eyes grew wide
and I told him that I did: we where from the same hometown, I was Burbank HS
class of ’65 and he was crosstown rival Burroughs HS class of same year; we partnered up at the Grand
Canyon during the search for escaped convict Daniel Horning, and saw each other
at Susan Morton’s memorial service in Tucson. Sometimes, it is indeed a small
world.
My second trip to OWF was for the
Little Bridge fire & Carlton Complex near Twisp (WA). Hundreds of
structures had been damaged or lost due to fire and then flooding; my last day
there we were waiting for the locusts to arrive… Near Twisp is the Sun Mountain
Lodge, a well known X-country skiing (winter) and mountain bike (summer)
destination. I worked with the structural protection group (led by Billy Morris
from Peoria, AZ FD) and noted in my log assessment that due to the continuous
fuels going uphill to the resort, that if a major run occurred “I think we can
save the tennis courts…”
In late September, Meme & I
again journeyed out to the Pacific Beach/La Jolla area: we love the balcony of
the Pacific Terrace rooms overlooking the boardwalk, cliffs, beach, ocean,
etc. The seafood is good (love fish
tacos), and it is enjoyable to visit Meme’s brother Mark and step-brother
Charlie that live nearby.
Oct. &
Nov. had a share of other activities: SiteWatch, tennis referee, yoga classes,
and some short trips: Ranger Rendezvous in CO (where I was interviewed for the NPS Oral History Archive), mom’s/Uncle Bruce’s b-day bash
in AZ, & SiteWatch intro training in Silver City, NM, but by far the large
amount of effort and time was preparation for a 20-hour Heritage Resource
Investigations training course that my LLC provided for federal & state law
enforcement officers & archaeologists the 1st week of December.
It “ate my brain” for the 7-weeks we had before having the course, but it was
worth it… good group of folks, and I’m better for having worked a few days with
them…
No comments:
Post a Comment