News from San Diego - My barbecue joint burned down!

The newscaster just said that San Diego's best barbecue place burned down last night. It was a funky old beer joint called Kansas City Barbecue located not far from the docks and the Federal Bldg. It was once the setting for a scene in Tom Cruise's movie, "Top Gun". A bunch of us from U.S. Customs Tech Support used to go there for lunch once in a while back in the 1980s. It had a historic connection, but I don't remember why. Its entire memorabilia was destroyed. I hope they rebuild it, but they probably won't. The property around there is gradually becoming a location for some very desirable condos.

The heat wave of last week is over - at least for now. It had almost all areas that were more than 10 miles from the coast up in triple digit temperatures. It was 104 deg. here with some wind. That tricky Catalina Eddy and his elusive friend Onshore Flo have been flirting around in the coastal high fog that brings the people on the coast relief from the heat.

We have had a few brush fires in the county, but they were extinguished right away. One was out here east of me just off I-8 where it snakes its way down to the desert. A driver zigged when he should have zagged, and ended up dead in Carizzo Gorge. It started a wildfire in the dry brush that ekes out a life among the rocks there. Somehow the firemen got helicopters on it right away and they put it out pretty fast. It must have been very hard to get to the crash and retrieve the body.

The hundreds of forest fires started by lightning up north are destroying some beautiful areas that my husband and I used to know. We were stationed at Moffet Field right after WWII, and we used to take rides into the Santa Cruz Mountains where the fire is burning now. I hate to think of those huge old trees being destroyed. There are a lot of redwoods that don't burn easily. Firefighters from all over the southern part of the state have gone up to help fight the fires. I think that some of the smoke from way up there is somehow drifting down this far. It has looked really hazy for the several days. On Wednesday, when I looked southeast, the sky was so discolored I called the firehouse to make sure we didn't have a local fire. The haze was thick enough to dim the sunlight. Reports this morning say that another fire is burning in Los Padres National Forest north of LA. That was another favorite weekend camping and picnicing area when we lived in Port Hueneme for about 14 years.

The morning traffic reports lately are that "the traffic is running smoothly". Right - and it is going to keep getting smoother and smoother as the price of crude goes above $140 a barrel. Out here Kelli, the Chaldean Iraqi who runs our country store, lowered his gas price this week from $4.85 back down to $4.58, but he'll probably jack it back up shortly. The average price of gas in San Diego County today is $4.61.

My personal news is that this horse camp may not be closing, but they have stopped taking camper reservations. My moving is not necessarily going happen this fall. I sure hope not, but I'm going to go ahead and sort through my things, cutting down so I will be prepared in case I do have to move this year.

The San Diego County Fair is still in full swing. It ends with a great fireworks show on July 4^th. My daughter Jane went to it last week on her day off. It is a great old fashioned fair, the 5^th largest in the country. It alway has lots of farm animal competition, as well as hotly contested competition in preserves, baked goods, needlework, and collections. Those are her favorite things to see, as well as the big exhibit of all the good stuff you can buy for your home - like the gadgets touted by enthusiastic sales pitches, exotic plants, bird baths and aluminum siding. I love all those things too, but I don't like crowds,  can't walk very far,

and my energy is limited. Besides that, I don't like to leave my cats and dogs alone very long because of the danger of wild fires.

Well, I'd better go out and haul away the piles leave and weeds before it gets hot. I have been raking  for the last few mornings, and have at least six piles to get rid of. I still have to clear off about 20 feet around the two power poles closest to my trailer. I don't want my phone and electric lines to burn. AT & T usually does that, but I haven't seen tham yet this year.

Oh, I forget to tell you. The tribal office has put some of their people to work putting in a large garden at the front part of this horse camp. It's about ½ acre in size, I think. It is late in the season to be starting a garden, but they bought big plants to put in. They have tomato and pepper plants and other things I can't identify from my viewpoint beyond the critter fence that they erected. On the sidelines they put in folding chairs and a picnic bench, as if they plan to sit there and watch their garden grow. Well, why not! That's as good an excuse as any to sit and  visit and drink a beer together.