From The Ashes

Police Scanning After Class w/Fires
In the Background

I write this post with many emotions.  As I look through these pictures it seems surreal; it's been one heck of a week.  Although I am happy we survived with shop and "stuff" in tact, there has been a lot of loss and several hectic sleepless nights.  What better place to start than the beginning though... and so I shall try to recount our tale. 



Last Friday I had an 8 o'clock exam in Omak.  I left the house early to get in some extra study time, and was greeted with the distant roll of thunder and black skies looming to the West.  Naturally I headed toward them to take the long way to school and to deduce if any of the black contained some much needed rain.  It was like driving through a tunnel; by the time I arrived at school, one of the largest lighting storms I have ever witnessed was happening right over me.  Cam reported much of the same electrical action at home, and thunder so loud and near it was rattling the windows.  We did get a bit of rain, but it was brief, and talk of fires quickly commenced.  The weekend was ushered in and I then completed one of the toughest quarters yet of nursing school last Tuesday.  The culmination of this quarter felt so good; I really worked my buns off this quarter.  I will be sitting for my exam to get my LPN soon, and only three quarters more until RN.  I can't believe I survived this year honestly.

On the way home from school I had my first introduction to the Okanogan complex fires.  A large fire had started above Riverside, and black smoke began to fill the valley and my commute.  I felt a bit of a rush for the first time, as I quickly ended my errands to make it home before any roads were closed.  Once home, I met the scene on the right.  Fires to the South-West of us, near Fish Lake from what we could tell, and seemingly advancing in our direction.  Cam got out his race scanner and we were able to pick up the local police and fire department channel.  With fires so close, I went into action mode; I wanted to get bug out bags packed and essentials in the trailer at the minimum.  Cam wisely knew we probably had more time and he humored my requests but also wanted to maintain a positive status quo on the ranch.  We had plans formed for months that my folks would take the kids for a couple days, as Friday was our 5th anniversary... little did we know it would be one of the hottest anniversaries YET!  

That night was the first of a few restless sleeps and we rose early to check the progression of the fire.  It had definitely moved, but had not as of yet crossed South Pine Creek Road, which was our mental barrier that divided timberland near us from the fire.  We left to run some errands in town, and within a two hour period, we returned to find our property socked in with smoke.  Cam and I made a quick decision to get the kids out of the area due to the poor air quality and the movement of the fire.  So... I loaded up and me and the kids set out.  Our journey home was an adventure in itself: we were turned

Twisp Skies

around in the depths of Highway 20 after a fire started in Newhalem.  Luckily, a gentleman stopped me (in the middle of the road) and told us to hightail it the other way.  The kids were sleeping, but I was very uneasy as we were in a canyon, with smoke billowing up from the pass.  As we made our way back into the Methow Valley... more smoke, now in the direction of Twisp.  I called a girlfriend who lives there and she said both Winthrop and Twisp were being evacuated, which left me in the middle of an exodus, heading South to Wenatchee.  I contemplated the choice I made to continue on the road, but with fire in most every direction, I just wanted to get my kids out of the area.  Because of our turnaround, it took around 8 or 9 hours for us to finally reach Skagit County.

5 Years Together

In Monroe, I received THE message.  Fire had not only crossed South Pine Creek Road, but it had advanced to the closest ridge to the West of us.  Cam was set in motion hauling our trailer, quads, Jeep, and snowmobiles to a friend's house down the way.  Although exhausted from driving so far already, I knew I would be heading back shortly to help my husband.  Kid delivery went well, despite the fact I hate leaving them on a normal day.  After debating what to do, my cousin Riley called and agreed to drive with me back to Omak.  So we set out around 11pm and made it back to Omak around 4:30am, where we slept in the Wal-Mart parking lot due to closed roads north of Omak.  After a couple hours of sleep, we were able to detour to our property.  It felt good to be back with Cam, adversity is best faced together, and I always feel better with him.  We went to lunch in town, and headed home to gather with our neighbors and their family.  Our times together are always fun and spirited, but the atmosphere changed when we walked outside and saw how quickly the fire had progressed down the ridge.  With only one gravel road between us and the fire, things were getting rather serious.  We made quick plans to get out of the area, and as planned Cam would stay with the men to defend our home.  I ended up leaving with our neighbors to help with their children; it was a tough decision to not stay with Cam, but I felt like it was the best decision at the time, and honestly I was worried about getting stuck down our road with no escape, and no contact with the kids.

Riley in our Driveway

Friday, I returned to fire on the ridge in front of us, having crossed Hagood road during the night and now making it's way toward us.  Fire was also starting to creep up our neighbors hillside, which is completely full of timber.  The guy's were tired from waking every hour to check the location of the fire, and the fact that it was our Anniversary was really a side note.  We watched the fire advance and I left to report back to basecamp and be a support for our neighbor.  At this point, I felt fairly confident with how the fire was moving, but I didn't necessarily want to sit around and watch things burn.  I did several re-con missions to check on the advancement of the fire, and knew it had to be close to both of our places, and Cam finally got a message out saying that the fire was at our driveway, but that there was a fire crew there.  The guys worked with the fireman to stop the fire on our line, but could only watch as the fire swept down and around our meadow.  Cam later described the vortex that occurred as the fire swept through our meadow in minutes, climbing up the hillside to our neighbors just as quickly.  The loss of their home was devastating; while but a cabin in the woods, it was a HOME, in all senses of the word... warm, welcoming, and full of a depth that only comes with the warmth of a family with similar attributes.  

The aftermath is tricky.  I am deeply grateful to be sitting here, kids sleeping, Cam in his recliner... but our hearts hurt for our neighbors loss.  While our neighbors have found a rental closeby, it's hard to grieve and go on with life at the same time.  We have seen the generosity of a small town at work though, and time will hopefully heal.  Our property looks much like a war scene.  What once was a lush meadow filled with berries and underbrush, now is ash and a lot of burnt trees.  It's hard to describe exactly all that has happened.  Our story, of course, has ended much happier than others, but we walk side by side. Bringing home the kids was scary, and oh so sweet.  I hoped their young hearts would be sensitive to the matters at hand, and it just felt right to be back again together as a family.  5 years with my husband continues to be the greatest adventure and seems to carry neverending excitement.  From ashes come fertile land and new opportunities; lumber for a home and new perspectives.  It's the conquering of one more challenge and hope for the passing of a season.     

Fire Updates

While I don't have the time to write an extensive message tonight (last final of the quarter tomorrow), I wanted to write a note on our current situation.  As of now we are safe and sound despite the number of fires in Eastern Washington at this time.  The fire closest to us, is near Fish and Blue Lake.  It is a ways off yet and has not crossed the road onto our North Pine side.  It's a bit eery as we can see a good amount of smoke, and watched some active fires in the distance tonight (farther toward Conconully).  The planes were flying most of the day fighting the fires.  I talked with one of the guys leading the team on the "Okanogan Complex" fire, and he was able to tell me exactly where the fire was, and was reassuring in the fact that it was a fair distance away.  The problem is though, that resources are slim as they are stretched between so many fires.

Still Smiling on the Homefront... Don't Worry About us Gram!

Cam and I were able to be productive on the fire front today though.  Cam wired a generator into our shop that is big enough to run our well pump... which is a great asset if the power should go out.  I did some weed eating around the perimeter of our place to make a little buffer zone and got a sprinkler set up on the back side of our shop.  I also packed us up some clothes and essentials (pictures, baby books, etc.), should we have to be evacuated.  Cam does make me feel a bit better because he is not all that concerned as of yet, but I feel like we are at least ready to go should we need to.  We have several friends that have graciously extended their homes and help if need be, so I will rest easy tonight......after I get caught up on studying.  Stay tuned for updates, and the adventures of Team Brown on summer vacation!!!!!!!

Smoke Signals

I used to sit back and watch the news and think how grateful I was to live in a relatively safe geographic region.  No hurricanes, no shark attacks, no tornadoes threatening my henhouse or precipitating the building of a new farm every year.  Possibly the threat of sliding into the ocean at some point in time, but that really never ruffled my feathers too much!  The seasons came and went without warranting planning ahead or any major changes in behavior.  We have found life with four seasons catches your attention a bit more.

First it was preparing for winter, which if you've been reading since the beginning, was interesting.  Daily we worked to get running water, a concept about as foreign as sending a letter is today.  We worked for our heat supply, we de-iced, we bought new snow boots out of necessity,  and we hunkered in.  Then it was the "break up," dealing with the mud, flooding the well (and once again working to get water), enjoying the greenery etc. Now it's the heat of summer, and we have a whole new slew of obstacles.  WATER is key for any home operation, whether you think about it or not.  Try going without running water for a day... even an hour.  Droughts are in full swing all over the state, and our area is no exception.  Luckily our well is holding up great, and we have a pool full of liquid gold if necessary.

BEES... apparently bees like water too, and when you put a pool in the middle of the high desert, it's like an oasis in the Sahara with a pool boy and swim up bar.  We are infested by yellow jackets!  I am talking swarms.  We have not even been able to use the pool for a week or so, due to hostile air attacks, and I am currently battling an irritating welt on my leg.  Cam has researched everything on the internet for bee removal, but I think the neon oasis sign is overriding any small deterrents we throw their way.  That being said, we are down one wasps nest...... Thanks to my lovely 20 gauge and a drive by sneak attack that blew that baby to smithereens!  That was a rush!  Unfortunately, I think the bees relocated closer to the oasis and swim up bar.

FIRE.... We all knew that this year was going to be dry, and it's been so dry and hot that fires seemed almost inevitable, it was just a matter of how big and where. Currently there are 4,000 acres burning down by Lucerne on Lake Chelan, temporarily shutting down my cousins job there.  Depending on the wind, the smoke from that fire can get pretty thick, even in our neck of the woods.  Yesterday, we left to take the kids to the lake and skies were clear, and on the way home it looked like a war scene.  It makes the sky such a strange color, and I hate having that thick smoke hang in the air.  We have not had any fires too close to our place, and are praying they can get control of those that are burning and that they stay in the remote areas away from homes.

Nature is a bit on the angry side right now it seems, but there's something to be said about noticing the world around you.  Realizing that there are forces outside your control, that if set in place, could significantly alter your routine.  Makes you respect what's happening a bit more, and opens your eyes beyond the monotonous.

5 Point Buck On Our Journey

I've had a nice long weekend thanks to my clinical schedule and 12 hour shifts.  It's been nice to be home with the family and we have gotten the chance to explore a bit more.  We took the back roads from our place to Conconully, through the mountains to Winthrop scouting a bit of hunting ground,
and checking out a new area.  It was quite a bumpy trek, but we saw some awesome high mountain country and even hit 7,000ft at one spot.

Sunday morning was interesting as well.  I had gotten up early to get some homework done before everyone woke up; the kids love to request coffee cake for breakfast when Mom's home, so I found a new recipe online.  I was just measuring out flour and bam... the power goes out, and suddenly we are back in survival mode.  So we threw the coffee cake in the BBQ, got a bucket of water from the pool and continued on.  The outage didn't last for long but it definitely makes you stop and think about what supplies or tools you are lacking.  After we filled our bellies, we were off fishing.  It was already around 90 degrees though, and the fishing was slow.... as in just fishing, no catching, so after an hour or so we called it a day and headed back to the barn.

Today we have been shooting our bows, and Cam's been getting some work done around here... weedeating, spraying some weeds in our meadow, and cleaning the joint up a bit.  If the house doesn't get started soon we have plans to start some fencing and a little goat pen.  You never know the power could go out and a growing family needs milk and butter!  This afternoon we have another hike on the horizon, and I'm hoping to get into some berries one of these days.  It will be back to work for me tomorrow, so I'm enjoying life on the ponderosa for now... finals week is looming and I will have a lot to do in a little time.  Hard to concentrate with goats, pigs, horses, and bee boxes on your mind!   

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

From Sugary Sweets online

For the Cake:
• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk 
For the Filling:
• 2 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg 
For the Streusel:
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

1. For the cake, grease and flour a 13x9 baking dish and set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt on low until combined. Beat in softened butter until mixture is crumbly. Add in eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and beat until fully combined and fluffy! Pour half the batter into baking dish, spreading evenly.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar and egg until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Pour over batter. Top with remaining half of cake batter.
3. For the topping, mix sugars with cinnamon and salt. Add in butter and combine fully. Add flour and mix with hands until fully combined. Pour crumb topping over batter, sprinkling with hands until evenly distributed.
4. Bake cake in a 325 degree oven for about 45 minutes, until fully cooked. Cool completely and serve.