Fire near my old neighborhood, books, and more memes
As some of you know, I used to live in the country outside Flagstaff, Arizona. We lived on 2.5 acres a half mile or so from the Coconino National Forest, with a view of the San Francisco Peaks from our driveway. It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived. This week my former neighborhood was evacuated because that beautiful place is on fire. This fire, the Pipeline Fire, is the second major fire in the area. The Tunnel Fire blazed through in April. According to the current map, this fire burned to within about a half mile of our former home. So far the neighborhood has been spared, but friends of ours were evacuated, and while the evacuation order has now been lifted, the danger hasn’t fully passed.
Back in 2019, a fire started in the mountains above us, and we spent over 2 weeks in “SET” status, i.e., a pre-evacuation order. That means you have your bags packed and need to be ready to leave immediately. It also means you spend every day and night in a state of high anxiety, refreshing Inciweb (official emergency management site) and news sites to see the direction the fire is moving. You look out your windows and watch the smoke, maybe even see flames on the ridgeline. You make arrangements for your animals, because they aren’t allowed in the people shelters. You decide where you’ll go if you’re evacuated, picking at least 2 routes in case the highway is closed in one direction. You decide what to take and agonize at all you’ll leave behind. And all the while, you have to go to work and live your life.
It’s horrible.
Today my heart breaks for my former neighbors and friends who are living with this fear and for all the destruction caused by this fire and its predecessor. If you live where wildfires happen, please follow all fire restrictions and be as careful as you can. This fire was started by a homeless man who lit his toilet paper on fire. That’s all it took to burn thousands of acres of wildland and send hundreds of people to shelters.
All right, enough gloom and doom. I know most of my readers don’t come here for that, so I appreciate you indulging me for a few paragraphs. In this week’s post, I’m going to share some pictures of my old neighborhood (don’t worry–I won’t get all maudlin) and I’m going to pray it’s still standing when the fire is contained. I’m also going to talk books–what I’m reading, what I’ve recently read–and share the usual hot, fresh batch of memes.
But before we get to that: This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share hosted by Natalie the Explorer and the What’s on Your Bookshelf Challenge, hosted by Debbie, Sue, Donna, and Jo.
My Flagstaff Neighborhood
We’re city and desert dwellers now, and while I miss our little slice of paradise in Flagstaff, I’m glad we aren’t dealing with the fire.
A couple of older posts on this blog feature pictures of the forest near our former home in Flagstaff and our Flagstaff garden, so check them out if you want to see more.
The Book Nook
As noted above, this post is part of the monthly What’s on Your Bookshelf Challenge. What with work and writing, I’m not reading as much as I used to, but some book are better than no books.
Books I finished in the last month
- The Case of the Mysterious Madam – Elise M. Stone. Full disclosure: Elise and I are both members of the Old Pueblo (Tucson) chapter of Sisters in Crime, so I know her, though not well. The Case of the Mysterious Madam (first book in the Shipwreck Point Mysteries series) is an indie-published traditional mystery set in a New England town in the early 20th century. The characters are engaging, the red herrings kept me guessing, and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s the perfect book to read with a hot beverage on a stormy day.
- Rare Danger – Beverly Jenkins. A romantic suspense novella by one of the best-known Black romance writers ever–and the main character is a librarian! And the dialogue crackles. Great read!
- Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick – Maya Dusenbery. Every medical student should read this book. Every doctor should read this book. It’s infuriating to see how women’s health issues continue to be marginalized and minimized, and the legacy of misogyny continues to do so much harm.
- Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey (Sisters in Crime the Writing Life, v. 3) – a collection of short essays by Sisters in Crime members about the writing life. I found so much comfort and encouragement in this volume.
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2020 – C.J. Box (ed.). So many excellent stories in this collection. I especially enjoyed the different story forms and the outstanding use of voice in these stories.
- After Dark – Phillip Margolin. I love me a good legal thriller, and this one kept me turning pages.
Books I’m currently reading
I can’t believe I have only 2 books in progress right now. I need at least 4: an audiobook on my phone, a Kindle book on my phone, and a print book in each bathroom 🙂
- Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence – Derald Wing Sue. Still reading this one for a book discussion group associated with my day job.
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2012 – Robert Crais, editor. I’ve been reading lots of short stories this year, a) because I love the form, and b) in the hope that good examples will help me level up my own short story writing.
The podcast that’s taking up my reading time
One reason I have only 2 books on the go right now is that I’m whipping through episodes of the Writer’s Detective Bureau podcast instead of listening to audiobooks. Detective Adam Richardson answers questions from writers on the show, sharing all kinds of fascinating details about police work. I started listening because I’m writing my first detective story (which is due for a contest deadline in less than 2 weeks and the first draft isn’t done and… why am I blogging when I should be working on that !@#$% story?), and everything I know about police work I learned from novels and Hollywood. I highly recommend this podcast if you have any interest in what police and other law enforcers actually do.
You can find my previous What’s on Your Bookshelf posts here.
Memes about Books
Since this post contains my monthly reading roundup, let’s stick with that theme as we enter the memery. Here we go:
That’s probably the only book deal I’ll ever get.
Mine is 8 volumes long and counting.
The expression on the teen train’s face is how I look pretty much every day when reading the news.
In case you’re running low on emojis:
I’ll be laughing at the Kafka one for at least a week.
And while we’re on the subject of classics:
Sometimes books can set us up for disappointment:
While we’re on the subject of Tolkein:
Then there’s this gem:
Follow me for more parenting tips.
And finally:
Nice try, but I’m already in Hell. I live in Arizona.
Did you really think I’d make it all the way through this post without complaining about the weather? Oh, you sweet summer child.
Now tell me what you’re reading. My TBR list is only 3 lifetimes long.
22 Comments
Gary A Wilson
Wow – quite a fire story Janet. Wish someone would come up with a great tool to put out these fires.
We were within a few hours or miles of being evacuated one year by fires that consumed 2 whole Santa Rosa, neighborhoods and almost ate 3 hospitals that were saved only by the huge parking lots around them.
Fun stuff. Yours are the only memes I indulge in.
Janet Alcorn
Oof. I hate to even think about having to evacuate a hospital. We once almost had to evacuate the day after my husband came home from the hospital for a spinal fusion. He could barely walk. So scary.
Astrid
I’m so sorry there’s a wildfire near your former neighborhood. I really don’t understand how people can be so careless and sometimes outright antisocial as to start a fire in nature.
I will put some of these books on my TBR list. Particularly the one about misogyny in medicine sounds interesting, as do the mystery short story collections. The podcast you’re listening to also sounds very intriguing.
Janet Alcorn
Yeah, I’d be sympathetic if a homeless person was cooking food, but burning toilet paper? Really? Once when I lived up there, we almost had to evacuate because some genius decided a red flag day (high fire danger day) was a good day to burn his trash. Took out 3 houses and an artist’s studio.
If you read Doing Harm, be prepared to get very, very angry.
Bobbiem91
What am I reading, things for writing, so I won’t include that, Windy City Dragon by Genevieve Jack. It’s the second in a series about dragon shifting brothers. I’m almost done with To Sleep in and Sea of Stars by Paolini. My reading list is almost to the moon. I either need to give up work or writing or classes or living my life maybe. either way, I’ll never complete all those i have on my e-readers.
Loved the memes about reading—good one, and then once about the Exorcist. Still laughing. I could so see you doing that–you evil minded things.
Janet Alcorn
Ahahahaha. I’m more evil minded in my fiction than in reality, which is a very good thing.
I hear you about the reading list. Mine’s so long I’d need another entire lifetime to get through it—and that’s if I never added anything new.
Retirement Reflections
Hi, Janet – I am so sorry to hear about the wildfires. I pray that all are well Thank you for joining us at WOYBS and for including the book jokes. I especially liked the one about The Exorcist.
Janet Alcorn
The Exorcist one could almost be turned into a short story 🙂
Debbie
Thanks for joining us for WOYBS Janet. The bushfire situation isn’t good to hear and it’s awful watching from afar. We had awful fires in our area in January 2020 while we were away from home (overseas) and it was truly traumatic watching from afar.
I like how you need at least 4 books on the go!
Janet Alcorn
It’s definitely hard to watch from afar, though it’s better than being in the thick of it.
Yup, must have multiple books in process at once. I’m a polybibliophile 🙂
leannelc
Hi Janet – we lived on a 2 acre treed block for 23 years and fire was always in the back of my mind (or a tree falling on the house when it was really windy!) I loved where we lived, but now that we’re in a more suburban setting I do sleep better at night with less fear of dying! PS: Loved the MIL exorcist book meme.
Janet Alcorn
I hear you. People talk about how life is more relaxed in the country, but I think those folks have never actually lived in the country. So many chores, dealing with snow and fire… yeah, I sleep better in town too.
trentpmcd
You write one, just one!, short story about metamorphosing into a cockroach as a metaphor and you get branded for all eternity… I did laugh out loud about you don’t just walk in, even if it was a movie line and not a book line.
I love mountains so I agree that your previous home was in a great setting. As to me, though, I would rather live in an area with blizzard and hurricane dangers (yes we have both) instead of fire dangers!
Janet Alcorn
Sorry for the delay in responding to your comment. This one and your comment on last week’s post both got flagged as spam. I have no idea why. I think WordPress is confused.
Yeah, poor Kafka. His legacy is a giant cockroach. I read The Metamorphosis for a lit class in college. I’ll never forget it. I read it on a long AmTrak ride after visiting my then-boyfriend-now-husband, and I spent most of the time shaking my head and muttering WTF. That is one seriously weird story.
And now I’m thinking of the episode of Married With Children when Bud Bundy dresses up as a giant cockroach. Send help.
Flagstaff has blizzards too. Maybe George R. R. Martin was inspired to write A Song of Ice and Fire by visiting there 🙂 As for hurricanes… just no. I lived in northern Georgia for awhile in the early 90s. My first experience with a serious storm was the tail end of Hurricane Andrew, which was at that point no longer a hurricane but still scared the crap out of me.
Jo
That meme on The Exorcist made me spill my tea! I’m going to check out the podcast you suggested – and good luck with meeting your deadline! Finally, I’m glad there’s other people out there happily juggling a book on a number of platforms.Thanks for linking up.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I’m definitely a book juggler. Hope you like the podcast.
Julie
The mute button hack made me laugh. This evening the sound on our TV was acting funky. It’s either we buy a new part or realize it’s at the end of its life (and buy a new TV — eventually). We usually watch TV after dinner, but instead it was straight to reading books with my 1.5 year old.
Janet Alcorn
I didn’t know you could even buy parts for modern TVs. I guess you could try a sound bar, but some of those cost as much as a new TV.
Julie
I would not know either. My husband is an electrical engineer — he use to work on speakers in planes in a previous company. I’ll leave it to him. I would naturally think soundbar too lol.
Janet Alcorn
Cool! Hope he’s able to fix it.
Kirstin
So sorry for your friends…Ugghhh..forest fires are so devastating. We live SW Washington State and the NW is plagued with them yearly. It is heartbreaking. Not as bad as California or other areas as far as neighborhoods being destroyed, but it’s heartbreaking nonetheless. Especially when caused by human negligence.
Janet Alcorn
I lived in Portland for 14 years and in Seattle for 2. Fire season up there seems so much worse now than it used to be. I grew up in CA, and I remember a few grass fires but nothing on the scale of what happens now. Climate change is devastating and getting worse.