orange skies

The Bonny Doon "Martin" fire is 90% contained, but ten houses and two "outbuildings" have burned down. The "Indians" fire in southern Monterey County (in Los Padres National Forest, down by Hunter-Ligget military reservation, is 30% contained after eight days of burning, and is "actively spreading" to the north and east. The Ventana wilderness is closed. So far 33K+ acres are burning: compare to Martin at 500 acres and the Summit fire at a bit over 4K acres (which lasted nine days).

When I got out the ladder I discovered that there are more apricots than I thought (which happens every year) but still a lot less than last year, which is only to be expected since last year was a branch-busting hell of a mast year (that was my vocabulary word for last summer: it means a superabundant crop year). Also I discovered that only some of them are actually ripe enough to pick at this time, which is sort of a relief. I picked a pot full anyway and they are now sitting on their drying racks in the dehydrator looking all golden and glowing and beautiful. I have turned off the dehydrator but I'm waiting for a bit before putting them up because I'm not a hundred percent sure they're dry enough to keep. I have to let them cool before I can judge that (they're always a bit softer when they're warm).