Before and After

A bird's paradise just this summer.

Some days are okay but others are stressful.

Yesterday was a stressful day.

Decisions, decisions, lots of decisions to make.

I shall probably post a few more photos as time goes by

but it is sad and overwhelming to see the miles of

beautiful forest land and homes that have been burned out.

If a home was touched by fire it burned to the ground.

The blaze was swift moving and pushed by 40 MPH winds

and the fuel was plentiful because of a drought the worst

Texas has seen since the mid-1900s.

Lots of green grass, ivy and trees.

The bird feeders are still standing.

When we got home last Thursday morning we were surprised to

see lots of birds in our backyard even after the fire.

They were still coming to the feeders and

the hummingbirds were visiting their feeders.

Saturday evening when we went back to feed

Miss Kitty we could see the wild rabbit that was a regular visitor.

To the right and behind the trees you can see the 

tool shed of our neighbor.

In front of and to the left of it is the remains of their home.

It is burned to the ground as are over 1700 homes in the area.

It is unbelievable that our house stands.

Across the street five homes burned.

On the same side of our street six more burned.

We still have the Hackberry tree just to the left of the house.

Luckily we have insurance that will cover some of the loss of the trees.

Hopefully we can buy a few large trees to put in spots

around the south and west sides of the house.
The trees to the north and in front of the house are doing well.

Our attic has a lot of smokey smell to it and

will need to be cleaned, insulation removed & replaced,

and duct work cleaned.

The inside of the house will need to be cleaned also.

The people responsible for this service say the house will

smell very fresh once they finish.

I don't know if the refrigerator can be saved after being

without electricity for 12 days.

Just up from the Hackberry tree and the south-side of our property.

The little piles are the remains of our out-building

that housed the riding lawn mower and other tools.

All the trees are burned 15 to 20 feet up the trunks.

We need to get a tree service to cut and remove all the trees.

The Texas Forestry Service is looking into getting seedlings

for people to replant on their property.

Of course the G-man and I will never see them grow

into big beautiful trees.

Most of these trees are 30 to 50 years old and

many more are older than that.

At least the 150 year old tree in our front yard is still alive.

We desperately need rain to help keep the ones that survived alive.

Fires in Bastrop - Part 3

Fires in the distance as we drive into Bastrop

Early morning, no wind, the smoke settles

Driving over the river

and into downtown the smoke permeates the town.

In the afternoon, after the wind came up

crystal blue sky returns.

Disaster relief

the media,

law enforcement

Firefighters from all over the U.S. have arrived. I've seen crews from Oregon, New Mexico, California, and Georgia. Forestry service personnel are here from various states. The out-pouring of aide is unbelievable. Some of you have experienced aide such as this when you have been effected by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. It is powerful and brings smiles and tears to the recipients of this kindness, expertise, and compassion.

Bastrop County Fires ~ Part 2

These are photos from the end of the day on Monday, 9/5/2011. Monday was a real challenge because we had only a couple of hours sleep Sunday night. We were too amped up and just could not stop our minds from running through all the scenarios.

We went into Bastrop to see if there was anyway we could get to our house. A few of our friends had gotten in about 7 AM, but when we arrived later the roads were blocked and manned by police. We saw friends and found out a few other friends had gotten in prior to the road block. We could not do anything at that point and decided to return to our friend's home.

On the way back we could see another enormous fire to the west of Bastrop. I called my friend to tell her we could see smoke in the distance. She went out to check and talk to neighbors who were watering their surroundings and packing their cars in case of the need for an evacuation in that part of the county.  It was named the Union Chapel Road fire and of course my friend lives on Union Chapel Road. Luckily for her (and us) the fire was just slightly to the south of her road and the winds were coming from the north.

The winds on Monday were gusting to 40 miles/hour, the temperatures were more moderate in the upper 80s, the humidity at 6 % because of a northerly front that came through during the night on Sunday. These conditions caused huge problems for the fire fighters. Air support was about the only thing that could be used to the east of the county because the fire was so fast moving.

This fire caused an evacuation and eventually consumed 800 acres and (I think) about 30 homes. Because planes and helicopters were already here fighting the fire on the east side of the county they were diverted to fight this fire. I think that is why it was contained in a little over a day. As of Wednesday evening people in the Union Chapel Road area were being allowed back to their homes or in some cases to view the damage.

 On Monday the information is that 300 homes were destroyed. As of Thursday night 1386 homes are destroyed and 34,000 acres with 2 deaths (not firefighters).



This photo was taken Monday evening on the hill west of Bastrop.

  We returned to our friend's home after a roller coaster day of worrying about two fires. We were all exhausted and slept soundly for 7 hours Monday night. I took no chances and took a Tylenol PM capsule to ensure that I would sleep.

The town of Bastrop is in the valley of the Colorado River.

These photos do not begin to express the horror of what these fires caused. What looks like clouds is smoke that extends as far as one can see from north to south.

Sunset from the same hilltop.

People on the hill gathering to watch the fire.

The hills on the east side of Bastrop is where I live.

Today is Friday and things are very different now. It got worse before it got better which I will explain later.

Wildfires in Eastern Bastrop County - Part 1

Sunday evening around 6 PM from Schlotsky's in Bastrop

 At 2 PM on Sunday I decided to mop my kitchen floor (you know sticky stuff) and then swept some dry grass from our garage that had blown in because of the high winds kicked up from the north as a result of the backlash of Hurricane Lee that was 500 miles east in Louisiana. I walked outside and saw dark clouds to the south of us over the river. Wow! That looks like serious rain clouds.

Hmmm, I thought, it's either going to rain (highly unlikely) or smoke is coming from somewhere. As I panned from south to north I could see where smoke was originating. My neighbors were outside & on the phone. I checked with them but we were still uncertain as to where it was.

I immediately went inside and emailed the person who alerts our "Village" of happenings.

Hi Jeffery,
Do you know where and in what direction the fire north of Hwy 71 is headed? Will there be a notice sent out on Tahitian email keeping us informed? The wind today is horrendous. Please let us know if you know anything.

 Immediate response at 4:01:14 PM:

The fire is at HWY 21 and 1441.
It is bad.
No evacuation for Tahitian yet.
But we are packing bags. I advise you to be ready in case we have to evacuate.

Inside I tell the G-man who is watching an exciting golf match that we may have to evacuate.



At 4:05:37 PM another email from Jeffery:

FROM TVPOA - EVACUATE TAHITIAN VILLAGE NOW!

On the way into Bastrop I called my friend Betty with whom I taught school for 10 years and we retired the same year. She lives just west of Bastrop in the Cedar Creek area. I called just to let her know what is going on, but she immediately offered for us to stay with her. I thanked her and said I'd call back if it appeared we needed to do that.

By 5 PM we were on our way into Bastrop to wait word on when we could return home.

We had a sandwich at Schlotskey's, shared a coke, gave Gertie her dinner and by 7 PM the G-man said, "Let's go back home." 

 

Oddly enough the sheriff's department representatives let us into the area. We drove through to our street. An officer was there at the entrance to Alele & said we could go on down to the house which is about 1/4 mile to our home. As we drove down two houses on the right and two on the left were intact, but the house across the street from one was fully engulfed in flames and to the right another neighbor's home was an inferno. All the trees (tall pines, old oaks, and underbrush) was on fire. Just around the curve is a cul de sac on which our house and three others sit. 

We turned around to leave, told the officer what was happening and the number of our house. We drove up the hill & down the street behind our house. Five homes were still standing but just to the right of the fifth house the woods directly behind our house were completely on fire and we could see our neighbor's home at the top of the cul de sac was fully engulfed in flames. Again we turned around to leave and met another neighbor who is a Park Ranger. He said his house and our house were the only ones still standing. 

All that was at 7:30 PM on Sunday. 

From what we saw behind our house and the inferno on Monday I sincerely doubt we have anything left. The G-man said if it is still there it will be partly due to the fact that a neighbor's son and I cleared the underbrush from the pines last spring. 

 

Truthfully, even if our house survived it will no longer be home. We would have no neighbors, no beautiful tall pines, no birds. There would only be charred woods and ruins of our neighbors' houses. We now have begun to think of where we would like to live and have gotten into the groove of thinking about reinventing our lives. 

This is my first installment. Today we may get in to see what is left. 25,000 acres have burned, 5000 people displaces, and 500+ homes lost plus many ranches in the area and the beautiful Bastrop State Park. We are fine and are planning on surviving this and moving on to a somewhat different life. We have each other and our sweet Gertie Girl. Not only do we have each other, but we have had incredible support from friends in blog land, FaceBook, family, friends (especially Betty for opening her home to us), and all the people from the school where I taught in Austin (Josephine Houston Elementary).

More tomorrow or later tonight...

Le Chocolate Shoppe

Roscar's Chocolates
and Holiday Teas

Bon bons

Beautiful handmade chocolates
from right here in
Bastrop, TX

Truffles

I should have taken a photo
of the exterior of the log cabin
where the chocolates are made.

The woodwork is lovely.

Photos with my iPhone

The Coffee Dog

The Coffee Dog
Espresso & Coffee Bar
Bastrop, Texas

This coffee shop is a new addition to Bastrop.
A few years ago we had another coffee shop
but they did not last.
I think their location was not convenient.

This new coffee shop is in a prime location for
folks to whip in as they enter Bastrop on Loop 150
which goes directly into downtown.

The shop itself is located in a very
nondescript shopping center,
but as I said convenience is important
even if aesthetics (of the center) are not.

The interior is very cool!
Menus are on the wall behind the counter.
The colors are great!

The Coffee Dog also has its own roastery.
I absolutely hate to admit it,
but at home I prefer to use Starbucks
and grind my own coffee beans.

Yes, we are very hopeful that this shop
will be successful.
It will have us for lunch or a light supper
on a fairly regular basis.