A Peek Behind the Orange Curtain

               A jacaranda tree blooms bahind a wall of yellow in an Orange County yard



    After spending a couple of weeks acclimatizing at Green Valley Lake (it's 7,000 feet up here -- I've been at sea level for almost two years during our sail), it was time to drive down the mountain and visit Orange County. Although we don't live there anymore, we consider it home, and most of my family still lives there.


 

       It was my first time driving a car in almost 2 years --

              which means it was my first time holding a steering wheel 

             and driving faster than 9 knots. I survived. Barely. 

The first thing you notice about Orange County in the spring is the blooming jacarandas.

Aren't they spectacular?

Walking among them is such a treat

The other big event of the week is this: The Wedge is going off!

"The Wedge" is a small section of Newport Beach that 

produces menacing waves when the conditions are right. 

And the conditions are right, bringing surfers from hither and yon. But the price is high. Countless young surfers have been killed or paralyzed here. 

Next stop: reconnect with the family.

Me and Paige (niece5) at her Jr. High graduation

Jr. High is not what it was when you and I were in school -- and neither is the fashion.

Niece4 (Courtney), Niece3 (Lindsay) and JoJo (sister2) joined me for the ceremony

South Orange County is famous for its excellent and competitive public school system. 

 Pressure for achievement is high here.

Check this out: these students were called to the risers to commemorate their 4.0 GPA. They filled the risers 5 times with perfect 4.0 kids! This is Jr. High. Wow. When I was in Jr. High, there was like ONE geeky kid with a 4.0. Times. Have. Changed.  Anyway, niece5 is back row center. She has worked so hard, and we couldn't be prouder. She makes the world a better place.

"That's my girl!" 

Proud Poppa Fred stands in the back, looking like a TSA agent.

 He's NOT a TSA agent. Not that I know of, anyway.  :-) 

Me and niece4

When the ceremony went long (as such ceremonies tend to do), some goofing off ensued

And then it was over

They've been through alot

Afterwards, there was a party at sister2's house.

Vicki (2nd from the right) of the Real Housewives of Orange County lives nearby. Stories abound of her making ridiculous scenes in local eateries.  I wanna see a scene, too! I'll keep my eyes peeled...

At the party: me and brothers 1 and 2. 

Our young graduate still had homework to do, even though it was her party, 

and graduation was over (I told you that school here is crazy-competitive!).

Sometime during the festivities, a Barbie doll ended up at the bottom of the stairs

Hanging out

This life-sized boy band cut-out guards neice5 in her room as she sleeps. 

Yeah, we can laugh, but if I would have had access to a full sized Donny Osmond cut-out

 when I was in Jr. High, you know he would have graced my bedroom.

If they ever make a movie of my step-Mom's life...

...Holly Hunter will have the starring role

Niece3's room. She's a busy college student. 'Nuff said.

The next day, I drove to the other end of Orange County to hang with the rest of the family.

These nieces are also a complete joy to be around

Reconnecting with sister1 (Kirsten) after almost 2 years apart

These ladies also live near one of the Real Housewives: Gretchen, second from the right.

Gretchen and her boyfriend Slade literally live right up the street from my family. Yet they say they've never seen them around. Come to think of it, Gretchen and Slade look like practically everybody else in Orange County, so I guess it's understandable that my family has never noticed running into them.

Niece2 and Niece4 made me this sweet "Welcome Home Viking Warrior Princess" sign. 

It's a family inside joke. Since we're Norwegian, whenever I took the girls sailing and they got frightened, I reminded them: "In your blood, you are a Viking Warrior Princess! We were made from the sea! And don't you forget it! Never be afraid! Onward!"   

It makes me happy that so many years later, they still haven't forgotten that we are -- 

       all of us -- Viking Warrior Princesses. 

So we need never be afraid.

Researcher, storm chaser or thrill seeker?

            Tim Samaras (who died last week) getting up close and personal with a tornado



     Last week, storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young were killed on the job chasing an EF-5 tornado in Oklahoma.

    It is evident from the media coverage that these men, and especially Tim, were much loved and well respected in their fields. And it appears that the tornado may have taken a sudden turn to the north, rendering the men unable to escape. It is a tragedy, clearly -- as is, of course, the billions of dollars in property damage and civilian lives lost throughout tornado alley in the past weeks.

  Inevitably, since their deaths there has been much speculation and discussion as to what, exactly, we should call these guys.  Storm chasers? Thrill seekers? Or researchers?

 The day after the tragedy, The Weather Channel insisted on calling Tim Samaras a "scientist" or a "researcher." They never used the term "storm chaser."  They insist that his entire purpose -- his main goal -- was to study tornados and to save lives. Epitaph after epitaph has insisted that Tim continued to risk his life day after day, year after year, in the service of others.

  On the other end of the spectrum, a perusal of online blogs shows that many feel these guys (unfairly, I think, lumping them in with all "amateur" storm chasers) were nothing but thrill seekers who knew the risks they were taking, and whose eventual deaths -- if not deserved -- were certainly not a surprise.

 This is a good time to state the obvious: I'm obsessed with tornados, hurricanes and all types of wild weather.  I love shows like "Storm Chaser" and watch them whenever I can.

 Tornados, and extreme weather in general have it all: beauty, power, tragedy, drama...and if you look close enough, you might even see God.

                        Tim and a fellow storm chaser experience the majesty of a supercell --
                       and the thrill of being so close to such a dangerous force of nature.



  So I get why storm chasers do their thing. Tim Samaras started out as an amateur storm chaser 20 years ago. He evolved into a photographer, scientist, meteorologist, and yes -- TV star -- through his years storm chasing.

               The 1996 movie "Twister" showed the frat-house like environment of storm chasing. They were also researchers...who got their rocks off chasing storms.



  It's clear that storm chasing is as dramatic, electrifying, heart-pumping and even death defying as base jumping, sky diving or any other extreme sport.

  And it's got the hit-and-miss quality of a good Vegas game of craps. They put all their money on the table, point the van in the direction of the highest probability of tornados, take a big swig of Red Bull, crank the Creedence Clearwater Revival, floor it to 90 and let it ride... 

 But it's more than that. It's the silence of the thick, humid air as the immensity of the supercell forms over the prairie. It's the power. And the inexplicable beauty.

                    The terrible beauty of a spectacular supercell rises over the heartland




You're simply not human if a teensy-weensy part of you does not want to be there and see it with your own eyes -- to share the same space of the planet with such majesty and unspeakably dangerous drama.

   So to say that these guys were not in it for the thrill of the chase rings hollow to me. It's like guys who say they read Playboy for the articles. Pleh. Puh-lease! 

   One of the problems with modern society is our increasing inability to see things in any colors other than black or white.  Are the terms storm chaser, thrill seeker and researcher really contradictions in terms?

Why can't these guys have loved the chase, and been drawn back again and again to the majesty, danger, mystery and beauty of these incredible storms? Why is that something to be ashamed of?

 Yes, they did research, they helped pinpoint the location and the direction of storms, and saved lives.

But in the end, they did it for love.

 And there's nothing wrong with that.


                                         "My passion for storm chasing has always
                                           been driven by the beautiful and powerful
                                      storms displayed in the heartland each spring."

                                                                             -- Tim Samaras

Yeah, that was me in a day-glo vest picking up trash on the highway. But I can explain...

 No, I didn't get arrested for drunk driving. I haven't even driven a car in almost two years! After our thousands of miles at sea (and Espiritu's top speed of 12 knots),  hurtling down the 405 at 80 MPH sounds horrifying.

 So, since I'm not driving yet, I've got some time to kill. Our friends Pat and Sandi invited us to pick up trash up here on the mountain along a portion of the highway sponsored by the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust.

     I really didn't want to wear the vest. It makes us look like parolees paying back our debts to society. And we were right on Highway 18, the main thoroughfare across the mountain! Someone would see us and think nefarious thoughts!

    Well. I'm learning that daily doses of humility are good for the soul -- so what better way than this?

                                                            Chris does his part




                                 There have been many celebrities subjected to cleaning
                                                         the highway in recent years,
                                     usually for charges related to drinking and driving:

                                                      Singer Chris Brown picks up trash

                                              Actress Michelle Rodriguez has done her time

                      The judge had Paris Hilton paint over graffiti for her public service.
                Note how she rocks the pumps, despite the decidedly un-Rodeo-drive millieu.

                                    Here's Lindsay Lohan relaxing by the highway when
                                                  she's supposed to be picking up trash.
                                                           And where's the vest, Linds?




                            Anyway, the view from the highway was incredible.
                                  During a break in the trash-picking-up action,
                                 I wandered off and took in the spectacular vistas.

            One priceless benefit of mountain living is displayed in this photo. We are way above the clouds during Southern California's endless bouts of "June gloom" -- an early summer phenomenon where thick slabs of gray clouds swim in from the sea and block the sun for days, weeks and even months during bad years.

But we're above it all up here!

     This is the view of San Bernardino and Riverside. There are hundreds of thousands of people buried under those clouds. See those little black lumps off in the distance? That's Saddleback Mountain overlooking Orange County.

                                                                We did good.

         The SB Mountains Land Trust buys land to be protected as pristine wilderness.
                                                    So I'm happy to support them.



         It felt good to get our hands dirty.

And the full immersion antibacterial scrubdown bath I took afterwards felt even better!.    :-)

"Is Green Valley Lake on fire?"

 Chris and I are happily getting plugged in at our cabin in Green Valley Lake, California after almost 2 years at sea. The other evening, I received an IM from our friend Martin, a Green Valley Lake weekender down in Los Angeles, asking: "Is there a fire in Green Valley Lake? I saw something about it on the news..."

  Well. No sooner did I have a moment to catch my breath from the lightning strikes, tornados and tsunamis we experienced during our sailing adventure, I hear that word:

 Fire.

Green Valley Lake made the cover of TIME magazine 5 years ago, in 2007. 

This photo was taken on Juniper street just around the corner from our cabin. 

Incidentally, Green Valley Lake is a tiny hamlet in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California (see the little red star above), about 2 hours east of Los Angeles.

Anyway, after receiving Martin's message, I bolted out onto the deck and peered up between the Ponderosas to the twilight sky. I was relieved to see nothing but the deepening blue of evening, and not a wiff of smoke. 

I went online and did some quick research.  Damn. A headline proclaimed there was a fire in Green Valley, only 5% contained. 

Upon further research, I was relieved to find that the fire is in a place near 

Santa Clarita called Green Valley. NOT Green Valley Lake.

Green Valley is one BIG word away from Green Valley Lake. 

What a difference a little lake makes.

Anyway, the good news is the fire is now under control in Green Valley (it's called the Powerhouse Fire), and we get to heave another big sigh of relief here in Green Valley Lake. 

Our town lost 100 cabins here during that fire in 2007, including 9 on our street alone. Hundreds more burned in neighboring Running Springs and Lake Arrowhead (photo courtesy of the LA Times). 

We have many friends who lost their homes and businesses. The fire burned 30 feet onto our property, but thankfully our cabin was spared. 

Fire remains a constant threat. But like any other natural disaster, all we can do is prepare, hope for the best and live life fully each day.

Right now, all eyes are on Oklahoma and Missouri as tornado after tornado touches down and destroys towns and lives like a giant buzzsaw.

This is the EF-5 that obliterated parts of Moore, Oklahoma last week. Such a horrifying photo. 

In the end, no matter where or how we live, there are certain risks we take. I've been thinking lately about what location on Planet Earth will be safest during these coming years of climate change. 

But honestly, between earthquakes, twisters, tsunamis, landslides, hurricanes, floods, lightning and devastating winter blizzards, none of us are getting off scott free. Every location has it's risks.

Looks like we're all in this together.