2019 March
Wild Flowers / What’s Left / Moving Mud Around / Waiting for Debris Removal
To-Do List
Asbestos inspection
Sifting & salvaging through the rubble
Getting clear on permits
Septic
Moving mud around
Still not done
Debris Removal
Building permits
Electricity
Water / Well
New Tools
How do you move all the mud, dirt, and debris?
First, we added “backhoe” to our vocabulary. After several dead-end Craigslist leads, our efforts to find a bargain backhoe failed. Finally, after weeks of a learning curve, we calculated that it would be cheaper to buy a backhoe than to rent one.
We tried to find a biodiesel, electric, or hydrogen tractor, but there is no green option on the market. We have to use dirty diesel, darn. We will have to seek options to either convert it to run on cleaner fuels (which is unlikely because it will probably void the warranty, and we have to watch our budget) or we will need to offset the CO2 emissions somehow. We are already planning on planting around 100 trees. Other ideas?
Wild Flowers
One good thing – it is getting greener and more colorful in our canyon and around town. Nature is staging a comeback. And the joy and hope this gives us is enormous. For the first time we think maybe this really can be a home again.
Let’s focus on what we can salvage
We had our asbestos inspection on March 17th. On March 20th, we got the results: “THERE IS NO ASBESTOS.” That was a lot of time to learn what we knew, but still, it is a relief, and we are grateful.
Finally we can now search and sift through the burned rubble, trying to saving things before the debris removal scheduled end of March / beginning of April. We originally opted in with the LA County program, as we had heard from someone who survived the Thomas Fire that this was the better way to go. But in the end, we opted out again because we could not get clarity on a timeline from the County or the cost.
Sifting through the remains of what were our life’s belongings is arduous, yields mostly ash, rock, screws, and other odd and uninteresting pieces of scrap metal and tile, but it is therapeutic nonetheless. Diane hoped to find the diamond from the necklace Matthias’ mother gave her for our wedding present, or the pearls Matthias’ mother and Diane’s grandmother gave her. She knew just where they would have been. Right under the bathroom cabinet and right under the cabinet across from where she slept every night. But we had to move all the debris into a few big heaps before sifting, which literally made the search a diamond in the rough. Although we were unlucky, the sifting process helped to let it go.
It also helped make Diane’s lungs feel awful. Even though she wore a mask throughout, a chalky taste and difficulty breathing were unwelcome side effects. She practiced the same techniques the nurse taught her mother to recover from pneumonia – forcing the diaphragm and lungs to work with deep breaths. She had to give up running for a while, and it was difficult to give up debris sifting. Her time was more healthily spent getting acupuncture. The local homeopathic pharmacist in Santa Monica also gave us some supplements that helped.
We did have a few interesting and welcome finds, though.
