Land of Fire and Ice Poetry

My poem is about my ranch which I call the land of fire and ice. Snowstorms closed roads on Feb. 8, and on Febuary 21, 2008 a 6.0 earthquake hit. Summer is always fire season.

Boom, Boom, Boom.

Sounds of explosions.

What was it? Was it the propane tank? Did the water well explode?

It was about 6 am when the 6.0 earthquake hit. It was like airplane turbulence without the feeling of falling down and bouncing up. The bedroom dresser with mirror was bumping and grinding itself. The tiny mirror balls attached to the lights swaying like an out of control bellydancer.

I awoke from deep sleep trying to snap my eyes open. Hurry focus. Jump out of bed quicker than instant coffee. Wait is it a dizzy spell or the 6.0 earthquake?

Swaggering like Captain Jack Sparrow while the lights blinking. Flooded with panic.

What to do? Where to go? Stashing cellular phone's power cord in my purse. Thinking about running out the door in the snow and the ice.

Turn off that oxygen! Hurry! Where to stand? Do I run out the house and dash across the ice on my driveway. It is 50 feet to the car.

The quake stopped and nothing bad happened here. Just tangled nerves.

Breathe, just breathe.

A few minutes later a strong after shock broke the peace. Oh my God. But it was shorter than the first quake.

Aha! Now is the time to pack. So I started to pack clothes in my backpack.

An hour later I went on the internet and read that a 6.0 earthquake rocked 11 miles south of Wells, Nevada. The town of Wells is about 25 miles away from my ranch. Old brick buildings were destroyed and one small car crushed.

At 4pm I was surfing the internet looking up You Tube videos when another after shock was shaking my home. I quickly disconnected everything and waited.

The sun slowly set behind a snow capped mountain. Snow "dunes" grew crispy because the temperature in a desert makes a sudden drop just like a hang man from the Pirates of the Carribean.

Another pesky after shock rocks this house.

I don't even move. I'm tired and its cold outside.

Two Weeks Ago: A Snow Storm

On February 8, 2008 hurricane force winds hit Elko county.

Snowing vigoursly. Winds thrusting against the snow.

Sculpting snow like sand dunes.

Covering rural roads with a vengence. Pure unadultered psychotic winds.

Rural roads are closed but I-80 is clear.

Road to my house is closed. Tried to walk a mile in knee deep snow. To tired. Some are trapped in the subdivision while some can't get home.

Five days to clear the road.

Five days to home.

Summer is Always Fire Season

Someone hated the month of November so much that they made a poem after it. How does it go? No sun, no shade, November. Well, the summer is pretty close to that.

No barbeques. No charcoal, no wood. No exception.

Every summer is fire season so it means clearing the land to about 50 feet around the house. Naked land is defensible space.

Naked land is good.

When clearing land you need water otherwise you get sparks.

This is the desert. Everything is dry. Sagebrush has fuel, but "cheat" grass is the real villain.

Sand storms, dust devils come. Hurry! Close those windows if you don't want sand in your teeth.

Thunder rolls out the carpet of danger. Following mountain ridges. Ruby moutains a thunder magnet. Look out there and you can see wildfires begin. A flash can strike brush turning into fire.

Fire means light sleep.

How far is it? Do I have to evacuate?

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