Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hot Sundae

It's Sunday afternoon. Hot and worryingly windy. There's been a lot of activity on the road as the fire services try to contain the fires that have slopped over the dozer lines into the White Oaks area. For a good discussion of the current state of the fire try the Cachagua Store.

We're under a Mandatory Evacuation with "hard" road closures so nobody is going in to anywhere around here for a while.

David Zimmerman sent a report to both Jamesburg and City Center yesterday evening. It's too long for this format so it should go up on the SFZC website sometime this afternoon.

The folks down at Tassajara are doing fine. Getting some relaxation while keeping a wary eye out. They may walk up the road this afternoon to check what state it's in.

Jack Froggatt had flown over the area this morning and he told us that the road wasn't in too bad a state and that there was green around Tassajara.

7 comments:

Tim said...

New info from SFZC:
Update on Tassajara, including what's happening at Jamesburg

Now that the fire has passed from David Zimmerman at Tassjara.

Letter calling for support for Tassajara from President Robert Thomas.

Anonymous said...

Hey, has the Tassajara fire crew considered using "foam" as an effective firefighting tool? Google "Class A Foam"-- it's what firefighters use to help in structure protection in fires like this. (Its bascially like really thick soapey bubbles, you spray it on the building, and its wetness acts as a fire retardent better than water can.)

The Cal-Fire crews working down there should have some they can use down in Tassajara, or give advice on how to use it. I think if the Tassajara ground crew had this, maybe it would help more than plain water.

I hope this helps!

~KJ

Anonymous said...

Immeasurable thanks to the five who returned, and to David for writing, amid what must be deepest exhaustion, that detailed description...

The animals sheltering in Tassajara's valley with our five priests, nibbling green leaves and feasting on compost and drinking clear flowing water... I remember seeing the family of quail, young ones trailing after their parent, in '77, but not this kind of gathering in oasis. The description of the dead buck for some reason reminds of paintings of the Parinirvana-- the historical Buddha dying, surrounded by all beings, to whom he said, "Nothing leaves you--you are already your own light."

The Bocce Court Buddha, the deer who survived, the still standing zendo... fire-tempered, destabilized mountains. As David says, the next year's rains will be a teaching as well, for those of us lucky enough to also still be here.

I remain in awe and gratitude far beyond any words' ability to convey, for the courage and fortitude and deep bass groundedness brought to the doing of something almost unimaginable by so few.

May all beings be safe, in all fires, and soon, somehow, rested--meanwhile, I continue to hope that Jamesburg, Cachagua, and all the houses off the road will come through unscathed, and that those who have lost homes in these many fires (human and animal and insect and plant) will find some startling, unexpected bit of Masahide's moonlight glinting amid the opened up spaces of absence... And sangha to sustain them.

Jane

Anonymous said...

Thanks for today's update.
Cbs-5 reported yesterday evening that there was mandatory evacuation for Tassajara so was not sure what that meant for you and the extraordinary five.
Thanks for this blog.
Blessings to all,

Julia said...

A friend of mine just sent this link to a comic on SFGate - Yay for FireMonks!:

http://www.sfgate.com/comics/meyer/

Tad449 said...

All of us at the Cambridge Zen Center are with you - Kwan Seum Bosal

Tyson Holt said...

Very nice blog yoou have here