Black to Black

The power is back on--temporarily. It came on here around 2:30 p., and is scheduled to go off again around 4 a.m.
Black to black blackouts.

 Winds are due to pick up again to the east and south around 6 a.m. This next "weather event" has winds predicted in a larger area, but the winds and gusts themselves are predicted to be less intense that yesterday's.  But they are not expected to diminish until Wednesday, so power will likely be off even longer.

Of course things are much worse in areas with fire and smoke.  The Sonoma fire has expanded; some 200,000 people evacuated.  LA has its own horrific fast moving fires, which I learned about from the BBC radio news.  Otherwise only people with Internet access through their smartphones are allowed to see the local news, and the Lost Coast empire still doesn't have the decency to schedule regular updates on its radio station.  Would it kill you to pick a time and summarize the relevant information at that time, after letting everyone know what that time is?  A buzz kill maybe.

So while we have a few hours to recharge stuff, get the fridge cold and the house warm, a problem that wasn't so pressing the last time is the night time temperatures.  There was frost this morning, and it's getting down near freezing for the next few nights.  Moving around in darkness or semi-darkness, holding a flashlight at all times, it gets old quick.  It gets to feel a bit like insanity.

The forecast after Wednesday is better, though, at least through the weekend.  But as we're beginning to realize, this can keep happening until the rains start, or until the powers that be find a more effective way of limiting fire dangers.  Because I'm seeing some doubts expressed that this is even working.

But as of today we have a battery backup which will help with some things, maybe even an electric blanket.  The planes are flying so they say, so I'm still scheduled to take off Wednesday morning.   I may post from PA if I actually get there. I got back on here to find that the automated post didn't work, possibly because the power loss affected this computer's clock.  So there may or may not be those Monday poems you're waiting for.  Stay tuned.