Life and all in Redding California
So, evidently I live in a science fiction novel. They print houses in my town. And I took a photo of the work getting underway using a supercomputer/digital camera I carry around in my pocket. It’s easy to get bogged down with all that seems to be going wrong in this world. But given my perspective from across nearly seven decades of progress on this planet, so many things have improved greatly. Astonishing, really. #thisisredding
If you have managed to stumble on this blog, you might also be interested in Redding Weather. Redding weather is inextricably entwined with the weather all around us. And water issues as well. Of course, you can get current weather info in all sorts of media. But Weather West is where you can find more in-depth and detailed weather information for Northern California and beyond. Weather West is run by a climate scientist named Daniel Swain. I first began following him on twitter @weather_west. He has also recently begun a You Tube channel, to which I immediately subscribed. Click on the image below to be taken to his Weather West Blog. Highly recommended and relevant to Redding, and to everyone in California.
So much new construction underway in Redding! I took the drone out for a look, otherwise you can only see it from ground level. Apologies in advance for the jerky camera movements. Over the years I have been flying I usually shoot still images, so this is much needed practice. Fun to see all the activity and structures!
I last posted here during a grim Christmas season. Despite lockdowns and (frequently ignored) masking and sanitizing regimens, infection rates were on the rise with no end in sight. I could not escape a feeling of gloom and uncertainty about how bad it might get.
But it got better… gradually.
A promised vaccine materialized miraculously (THANK YOU scientists), and now my family members and I are vaccinated. Most local kids got back into school months ago, and thankfully in-person instruction proved not to be a serious source of infection. Rates fell fitfully but steadily, and we recently had a 9 day period when there were no Covid patients in an ICU in the Shasta region. Lately the numbers have started to tick back up again. Probably due to people letting their guard down. Nationwide rates are still fearsome, but California still looks pretty good. Now millions have gotten vaccinated, and vaccines are becoming widely available to all.
So things are looking up again. You can see it clearly in the re-openings, increased traffic, and people out and about enjoying our terrific Spring weather. I’ve never felt anything like the buzz I got after getting that final vaccine injection. Like a veil of impending doom was lifting. Almost giddy. It’s been a hard year on everyone. But that was then, and this is now.
ReallyRedding once again.
The Carr fire of 2018 wounded Redding badly. A few local citizens hired a local film studio named speropictures to create something about special about it, and it is quite amazing. The live event premiere of the short seems to have been taken down. But here is a trailer for what may be a monger version.
It reveals a lot about Redding. We all learned more about ourselves and our community during and after the fire.
For me personally, watching the short film brought back some of the PTSD like feelings surrounding the evacuation. My home did not burn, but the beast burned homes on the next ridge over from us. I’ve no idea why it stopped there. I saw and heard the fire tornado firsthand. Nothing could stop it.
I was pleased to see my name in the credits, although I had nearly nothing to do with the production. They used a brief video clip from the video of the fire tornado I shot before fleeing for my life.
