I was up early to tackle the last of the back slope. Mike loaned me his gas powered portable weed whacker, and it does a decent job. “Let the machine do the work” , he says to me. A valuable lesson as I scramble up and down the slope. As with any new machine, there was a learning curve – cut the tops off the thistle and other overgrown weeds before taking on the stalks lower to the ground. The green growth near the retaining wall is the easiest to cut through. I finished the last of the slope in a little over two hours, including raking off the dead grass and other weeds. Jerry’s pine tree has emerged from the died grass again, and I dug out one pine sapling that was a volunteer.
San Francisco Chronicle reports 5,800 wildfires already this season, burning 205,000 acres None around Amador County so far. The stated goal of Cal Fire is to contain 95% of wildfires to 10 acres. I am glad to assist in that process.
A Year at the Snake 