(no subject)

[calissa]

First off, I'm safe.

Bush fires have been burning around the area for weeks. None have been an immediate threat to me. That said, I'm keeping an eye on one burning about 35km away in the national park--there's not a lot between me and it except forest and farm land.

The south coast has fared badly. It's about a two-hour drive from here and is where Sahaquiel and I go when we want to go to the beach. Bateman's Bay is one of the bigger towns in the region and the most direct drive from here. I'm told (via secondhand reports from a friend who got stuck there) most of it is intact, albeit without electricity. So, the cramped little cafe that serves the best vegetarian lasagne I've ever eaten is probably okay.

I also heard the Mogo Zoo was saved, though they were scrambling for generators afterwards. Mogo is a short distance inland from Bateman's Bay, and is a hippy tourist town surrounded by forest. Along its main street, it has a cottage with the most beautifully overgrown garden that makes me think of witches. I think that was saved, along with one of the ice cream shops (Mogo is where we always stop for ice cream). But I don't know about the charming second-hand bookshop (my last purchases there were China Mountain Zhang and The Ocean at the End of the Lane). The newspaper reports much of the town was razed, including the tea shop, a couple of churches and at least one art gallery.

While Canberra is not directly in the firing line, air quality has been a big issue. Even before Christmas, smoke from the fires was starting to make itself felt. But on New Year's Eve it rolled in so thick I could barely see the other side of the street. Since then, Canberra has often had the worst air quality in the world, being on occasion two or three times worse than the next worst city (often somewhere in Pakistan, India or China). We've done our best to keep the house shut up, but it leaks in anyway. Sunday was so bad we resorted to covering up the bathroom skylight by taping our laminated gaming maps to the ceiling (which worked surprisingly well) and covering the vents with plastic wrap. As the day wore on, we started wearing our P2 masks inside.

The photo above was taken on Sunday (admittedly through a somewhat dirty window). It doesn't do justice to how yellow the light was.

This morning was clear enough to open the house up for a short time and take the dogs on a long walk. However, the smoke is starting to blow in again and things are expected to get pretty bad again in the early hours of tomorrow morning. This is basically going to be the reality we have to live with until the fires are put out, which could be months away. We've had a few showers, but last I heard the Bureau of Meteorology wasn't expecting significant rainfall until April.

I'm doing my best to keep putting one foot in front of the other. The house still needs to be cleaned and meals still need to be made. And, of course, books still need to be read.

Comments

[radiantfracture]

I’m so sorry. What a nightmare for you. And for the world.

[calissa]

Thank you. It has definitely been an interesting start to 2020.

[annarti]

I've been particularly thinking of you in Canberra. I was watching a cricket match from Canberra just before Christmas that got abandoned due to smoke. The way it just billowed in across lake Burley Griffin and into the ground was like something out of Hollywood special effects, not real life. I hear it's reached Chile now, too.

Stay safe, from the smoke as much as the fires 💚

[calissa]

I hear it's reached Chile now, too.

Oh wow, I'd not heard that... though I had heard it's doing terrible things to New Zealand.

I do hope you and yours are okay as well. Another friend of mine out your way had relatives with a vineyard under threat (though I think in the end they were okay).

[kaberett]

Thank you for talking.

[calissa]

Thank you for reading! <3

[sweet_sparrow]

<3<3<3<3

[alee_grrl]

<3 <3 <3 <3

[rmc28]

I'm glad you're safe. Thank you for talking about this.

[calissa]

Thank you for reading!

[sine_nomine]

I am so glad that you posted this. I realize I have little idea where my Australian friends are in that vast country. I had been wondering if any of you were being affected.

Sending good energy and tea and such from this side of the world. I can't imagine what this is like, and so sorry for the impact this is having on your life. It sounds scary and overwhelming and yet, as you say, possibly no relief in sight. Not good mental conditions to say nothing of the physical ones.

Do let me know if there is anything i can do from here.

[calissa]

I realize I have little idea where my Australian friends are in that vast country.

I too am often vague about where my US friends are placed (and even worse with my Canadian friends), so you are definitely not alone on that front.

And thank you for the good wishes. It is very much appreciated.

[umadoshi]

*sad hugs* Thank you for the update--I'm so glad you're safe from the actual fires. I'm thinking about you.

[calissa]

*hugs* Thank you. I hope you're doing okay, too.

[starlightmagpie]

As soon as I read about the air quality in Canberra, I immediately thought of you. I'm so sorry. Thank you for checking in.

[calissa]

I figured a few of you might be worried if I didn't check in soon. <3

Also, thank you for the beautiful card. It arrived just as chaos was beginning to descend around here, so I didn't get a chance to properly acknowledge it.

[starlightmagpie]

I'm glad it reached you, although in hindsight it probably wasn't the best one to send right now. Thank you so much for mine <3

[forestofglory]

*hugs* we've had some bad fires here and even knowing that my house wasn't in danger it was awful. The smoke and the inability to go outside and knowing so many people are losing so much just gets to one.

[calissa]

It really does get to one. I'm sorry you've had first-hand knowledge of that (and not long ago, either).

*hugs*

[wispywillow]

So many of us all over the globe feel so helpless...

[calissa]

The world certainly seems to be going to hell in a handbasket from a number of different directions right now. I hope you're doing okay. <3

[pantha]

*much hugs*

Thank you very much for the update. I am so glad to hear you are safe and that some of the things you hold dear have been saved.

I cannot comprehend how difficult it must be, though, with the smoke and the uncertainty. And how long this is probably going to go on for. *more hugs* Wishing you all the best, as always.

[calissa]

*big hugs* Thank you, lovely.

[onewhitecrow]

Thank you for the update. It will end sometime, and trees will grow again, hold to that. Please be well-prepared and safe. Would that I could help any, I would send you so much rain...

I am much approving of your new in-house opportunities for upside-down bathroom dungeon crawls, by the way.

[calissa]

It will end sometime, and trees will grow again, hold to that.

This is a reassuring thought. And, indeed, I've seen some work aimed to help on that front. A small local wombat rescue has been out in one of the burned forests setting up feed and water stations for the wildlife. I've decided to volunteer with them once things get back to relative normality and they go back to their usual mission of treating wild wombats for mange.

I am much approving of your new in-house opportunities for upside-down bathroom dungeon crawls, by the way.

I rather wish we'd been more organised about it because that does sound like fun. Instead, we have the Forgotten Realms superimposed over the city of Duskvol. I really should take a photo.

[onewhitecrow]

Wombat scrubbing sounds like a fascinating volunteer opportunity and a great thing to put on your CV.

The mission is to find out which entity caused the critical interplanar convergence and make them stop. Also, because of multiversal discrepancies of scale, everyone from the Forgotten Realms is incredibly tiny to the Doskvolites (who at first thought they were being invaded by really weird ants). The party is drawn from both realms.

[clare_dragonfly]

I'm glad you're safe. This is so horrible.

[winterbird]

The smoke has been terrible. Glen's brother also lives in Canberra and we've been getting photo updates. It's just unspeakably awful, and I hope the winds move the smoke along soon, and that you all get a break from it. <3

[calissa]

Thank you! I do hope Glen's brother is doing okay.