We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon
Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
May 4th, 2020...What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times, until it wasn't, which was about 8:15, when the electricity went out. I checked the meter, to make sure it was the grid, not me, and went out to sit on the deck.
After about 15 minutes, I began to hear a chopper circling just north of me, so I walked out to the barn to look for it. What I thought I saw was the fire chopper pass over my small pond with a bucket, heading north, but I couldn't see any smoke. The grass still looks too green to burn, but it's still unsettling, so I put on my boots and started to drive over to my neighbor's place to get a better view.
When I got up to the gate, the road was blocked at his gate by 2 flatbeds and a backhoe, and the fire bucket on the chopper turned out to be 2 people. PGE was replacing poles, and they were using our other neighbor's pasture as a staging area. There were 5 or 6 bucket trucks parked on one side, and parts and labor were being flown out to the main line. There was also another chopper on the ground. I watched a couple of work teams being carried off, but, as high as they went, their balls still bounced off the ground every once in a while; left a few depressions in the hill.
After I got home, the 2 flatbeds headed across my ridge line, and down towards the property at the bottom of the road. Within about half an hour, the other chopper fired up, and it was heavy duty, so I headed out to check. It flew a power pole over the greenhouses, and then down the slope behind it; I couldn't see the exact spot. They made a few more runs while I was watching, but I eventually decided it was more entertaining to get stoned and listen to the creek and the birds and a few bees. Around 5, the power came on, and it went back to being a day like all days, filled with those events that alter, and with electric light bulbs which illuminate my times, which all had to re-set.
