GIS Butterfly: Changes In the Wind

This was the quote on my calendar for the month of September

September 1st and my calendar says, "Day Off". I was really ready for a day off.

August 13th was the day I started back to my school job. After two days of "In-service" the kiddos came back to school on August 15th. We have had a shortage of staff for the after-school care in my district, so I decided to start working after school again at a different school in my community.

According to a real estate web page called Trulia there are 82 schools in my area. My district has nine schools and I think I have the best of both worlds. My day job is at the largest school where I teach reading to the kiddos in K-5 who need a little extra encouragement. I also get to be a crossing guard in the morning and supervise one recess and the lunch crowd on our patio. After school I take a short drive to one of the smaller campuses and supervise 20 ~ 2nd and 3rd graders to do homework and some fun after school activities.

Last weekend I was fighting my first "kid cold" of the year. I hope it will be the last.

September 2018 is looking like an adventure with change. I have been house setting a lot since July and I now have a house setting job that will be 5 weeks at one location. The adventure part is living with Chickens, Ducks, Dogs and Cats all in one location. I've cared for all of these animals at one time or another, but this will be a fun and relaxing adventure for me. There is a relaxing little pond with 100's of gold fish that is for the ducks to swim and frolic.

I still continue to work a little at Pier 1.The glitter of Fall is upon us in every corner of the store. Last weekend we brought out a few of last year's Christmas pillows and it was fun to see them get picked up at amazing discounts. (I have a say I was excited that one of them followed me home too.)

Last Year's Pillow

The Carr Fire is 100% Contained, but the smoke and smoldering is still a part of our day in Redding. As the map shows, the devastation from this fire will be with us for a long time. The Hirz Fire just came up this week and it is another 38,000 acres burning strong above the Carr Fire.

New Fire in upper right

This is my phone map . After 20 minutes of internet searching I could not find a map like this to use. It seems odd that the general public can only find this on a fire website. Google Earth does not show this view online. The area in Red has been destroyed by the fire.

On July 8th my son took a hike to Whiskeytown Falls:

On August 24th a young woman named Bethany posted this Picture:

Sadly this is our new reality.

229,600 acres of damage. Over 1,000 residences destroyed and 200 more damaged. Many animals lost and there is no accounting for all the wildlife lost and their homes destroyed. Our area is known for the wonderful boating, fishing, skiing and other outdoor recreation. Now we are know internationally as the people with the awful fire damage. I'm not going to get into a political statement here about my opinion of "forest conservation", but this makes me so sad.

Back to the Beginning

"If we had no change, we would have no butterflies." I am that butterfly in the wind. I have been through many changes and even more lately. A year ago my BLOG spoke of the hurting in my heart from our loss of Taylor. This year my heart is lighter, but there will always be losses to walk through or help another walk through. That is our human journey. Some people have January as a time for beginnings, others it is Spring time and others Summer. For me the new beginning is September 1st.

I am anticipating new understanding of myself as I walk through the crunching leaves of Autumn. I look forward to our amazing rainy season. I love the cooler evenings to sit outside and leaving my window open as I sleep.