At sea, en route to Fiji: We crossed the international date line last night so the date on this post is wrong, it isn't Wednesday, the 11th; it's Thursday, the 12th here. I have trouble wrapping my head around losing a day (Wednesday) going west and regaining it going east.
We get cable news on our shipboard cabin TV, choice of Fox or MSNBC, depending I suppose on one's politics. American pax are mostly Fox, mostly conservative I would guess. BBC is also available for those with a high tolerance for soccer and cricket scores. Plus we have gratis access to the online NYTimes.
We've been following the wildfires in NorCal, one of which is somewhat near our vacation home there. Niece Karen reports areas around Napa are a mess; her place is probably not threatened but she has airborne ash falling in her backyard pool.
Reading email bulletins from our former employer Chico State, it appears air quality on campus is poor. Staying indoors as much as possible is recommended.
Wildfires are an every-Autumn event in CA, caused by the savannah climate which delivers no rain during summer and early fall. By October everything is extremely dry and flammable. We have no realistic expectation of significant rain before late November, and we may not get any then.
I spent my growing-up years watching the brushfires burn across the Coast Range mountains of the Los Padres National Forest. Meanwhile my parents kept busy reassuring relatives that no, our house had not burned down. Pro tip: the media always overstates the damage.
Late summer and fall fires are a routine part of life in CA, as are earthquakes. On the other hand, we get no hurricanes, very few tornadoes, and little hail. Water shortages are semi-common but humidity is rare.
Life, as someone wisely noted, is a series of trade-offs.
