Finally! Rain!

[ShadowsDad]

Badly needed rain at that! It's been months since we had any and that's very unusual for Maine. We're in a severe drought and that too is unusual. The grass has been brown for months, people with marginal wells have no water, forest fire danger is high and Maine is 90% forest (the most in the USA). This time of year the trees lose their leaves and go dormant, but they are weeks early in doing that due to drought stress.
But I woke up this morning to water dripping off of the roof and things outside wet. It's forecast to rain for a good part of the week with up to 2.5" in some areas. We need more than that to get caught up, but any is better than nothing. Slow extended rain is exactly what we need. It soaks in rather than running off into the drainage and out to sea.

[GAW9576]

Good to hear. I love a good rain.

[ShadowsDad]

So far the predicted rain hasn't materialized in any meaningful amount. We're still in a severe drought. Supposedly rain is coming in tonight but the forecast has changed and we're predicted to get much less. We're in the area of the heaviest amount. I'll believe it when I see it in the rain gauge.

So in keeping with the drought a newly arrived person from the city decided to burn a huge brushpile today. On top of the drought and the forest being a tinderbox, it's also very windy today. No one in their right mind would think of burning ANYTHING(!). To consider burning a humongous brush pile is complete insanity. To hand out a burning permit should be criminal but my understanding is that he was able to obtain one. We came home today to smoke billowing up just a short distance away and the fire trucks coming up the road to get this gents cookies out of his fire. Over 2 hours later they're still there.

I question the mental balance of anyone who would issue a burning permit under these conditions, and just because someone got a burn permit that doesn't mean it should be done. City folk! Brainless moron! Absolutely no sense of responsibility or cause and effect! Yeah, I'm POed. No one likes to think they can leave and find their place burned to the ground because of some mindless act by someone who should still be in the city.

At least one of the responding fire vehicles is heading out as I write this.

I haven't been up there but their 5th wheel camping trailer was set up downwind from the brush pile. You'd think that would have given them a second to think since they owned it. I have no idea if it's still standing.

[GAW9576]

Wow. Just wow.

[Wchnu]

Common sense is not common anymore. You should be able to “talk” to people like that.

[ShadowsDad]

I don't know if I've written this here previous to this, so here goes.

We get lots of people moving near us, understand that "near us" is within a mile or so. Lots (most?) of them come from in town. Near as I can figure they're trying to get away from the problems living in town cause by moving out to a simpler life. But they just don't understand that no matter how fast or far they run they just can't get away from themselves.

The latest ongoing civil war in the cites has made the situation worse by putting ideas in peoples heads that they didn't contribute to the problem (they voted for this crap) and that they don't want to be there for the final act. So they come here. People are buying land and homes sight unseen, just what they see in realty listings. They are that desperate. I guess I can't blame them, but in Maine the problem is the mindset of folks living in the cities and southern Maine. So they bring their baggage with them and of course they know more than anyone else. Of course it's pure BS, but they don't know that.

Yes Fuzzy, they could use a little "talking to". Many times just living out here for a year or so smartens them up and they go back to where they came from. But I think those folks are just going to use it as a refuge.

[Flintstone]

So far the predicted rain hasn't materialized in any meaningful amount. We're still in a severe drought. Supposedly rain is coming in tonight but the forecast has changed and we're predicted to get much less. We're in the area of the heaviest amount. I'll believe it when I see it in the rain gauge.

So in keeping with the drought a newly arrived person from the city decided to burn a huge brushpile today. On top of the drought and the forest being a tinderbox, it's also very windy today. No one in their right mind would think of burning ANYTHING(!). To consider burning a humongous brush pile is complete insanity. To hand out a burning permit should be criminal but my understanding is that he was able to obtain one. We came home today to smoke billowing up just a short distance away and the fire trucks coming up the road to get this gents cookies out of his fire. Over 2 hours later they're still there.

I question the mental balance of anyone who would issue a burning permit under these conditions, and just because someone got a burn permit that doesn't mean it should be done. City folk! Brainless moron!  Absolutely no sense of responsibility or cause and effect! Yeah, I'm POed. No one likes to think they can leave and find their place burned to the ground because of some mindless act by someone who should still be in the city.

At least one of the responding fire vehicles is heading out as I write this.

I haven't been up there but their 5th wheel camping trailer was set up downwind from the brush pile. You'd think that would have given them a second to think since they owned it. I have no idea if it's still standing.

We've had rain (thankfully), but this weekend I went on 4 different "Grass Fire" calls, which were 4 different individuals who decided they had to burn their tree or their leaves, since it was a beautiful day.  Not too much humidity, nice breeze...oh wait....gee, I wonder if my giant bond fire will be affected by the wind....nah, my family home is 40 yards away from the fire (that's almost a half of a football field), my tree line (woods filled with pine straw and nice burnable privet bushes) are at least 20 yards away....yeah, I'm good.   So needless to say, every single call went out as "Grass fire...homeowner says the fire is heading towards both their house and towards the woods."   But my favorite was the guy who started his bonfire, jumped on his tractor, and promptly hit his natural gas line....broke the meter, and managed to break the cutoff as well.  The gas line was 35 yards from his fire, so he rightly freaked out and called 911.  We were able to cut the gas at the main cutoff before things got interesting.  Then there was the homeowner who didn't want us to put his tree stump fire out after we contained the blaze...."I mean, c'mon.....most of the burnable stuff is already burned, so I should be fine".   Also had medical calls:  stroke victim who needed a helicopter ride to get to the hospital, a guy who had a bad reaction to some bad narcotics, a self-described bi-polar guy who drove a transport van into the side of the building (this was his last act during the wild road chase by Sheriff's deputies).   

It was a crazy weekend....nice weather= insane behavior, I'm ALMOST looking forward to tropical storm Delta which is coming this weekend.

[GAW9576]

So far the predicted rain hasn't materialized in any meaningful amount. We're still in a severe drought. Supposedly rain is coming in tonight but the forecast has changed and we're predicted to get much less. We're in the area of the heaviest amount. I'll believe it when I see it in the rain gauge.

So in keeping with the drought a newly arrived person from the city decided to burn a huge brushpile today. On top of the drought and the forest being a tinderbox, it's also very windy today. No one in their right mind would think of burning ANYTHING(!). To consider burning a humongous brush pile is complete insanity. To hand out a burning permit should be criminal but my understanding is that he was able to obtain one. We came home today to smoke billowing up just a short distance away and the fire trucks coming up the road to get this gents cookies out of his fire. Over 2 hours later they're still there.

I question the mental balance of anyone who would issue a burning permit under these conditions, and just because someone got a burn permit that doesn't mean it should be done. City folk! Brainless moron!  Absolutely no sense of responsibility or cause and effect! Yeah, I'm POed. No one likes to think they can leave and find their place burned to the ground because of some mindless act by someone who should still be in the city.

At least one of the responding fire vehicles is heading out as I write this.

I haven't been up there but their 5th wheel camping trailer was set up downwind from the brush pile. You'd think that would have given them a second to think since they owned it. I have no idea if it's still standing.

We've had rain (thankfully), but this weekend I went on 4 different "Grass Fire" calls, which were 4 different individuals who decided they had to burn their tree or their leaves, since it was a beautiful day.  Not too much humidity, nice breeze...oh wait....gee, I wonder if my giant bond fire will be affected by the wind....nah, my family home is 40 yards away from the fire (that's almost a half of a football field), my tree line (woods filled with pine straw and nice burnable privet bushes) are at least 20 yards away....yeah, I'm good.   So needless to say, every single call went out as "Grass fire...homeowner says the fire is heading towards both their house and towards the woods."   But my favorite was the guy who started his bonfire, jumped on his tractor, and promptly hit his natural gas line....broke the meter, and managed to break the cutoff as well.  The gas line was 35 yards from his fire, so he rightly freaked out and called 911.  We were able to cut the gas at the main cutoff before things got interesting.  Then there was the homeowner who didn't want us to put his tree stump fire out after we contained the blaze...."I mean, c'mon.....most of the burnable stuff is already burned, so I should be fine".   Also had medical calls:  stroke victim who needed a helicopter ride to get to the hospital, a guy who had a bad reaction to some bad narcotics, a self-described bi-polar guy who drove a transport van into the side of the building (this was his last act during the wild road chase by Sheriff's deputies).   

It was a crazy weekend....nice weather= insane behavior, I'm ALMOST looking forward to tropical storm Delta which is coming this weekend.

Here's to hoping the storm will keep most of the crazies inside.

[ShadowsDad]

Flintstone, reading that makes me soooo happy I live in rural Maine. I guess I have it good in comparison.

[Wchnu]

Flintstone crazy people are job security for guys like us eh?