Outside Looking In

Ginger, the escape artist (remember "Chicken Run"?), made it through the night before, I'm happy to say.  She is a dingbat, however, and is still on the loose.  This little birdbrain evidently has forgotten that I am the She Who Brings Food and only remembers I am She With Dog, even though Bessie Anne remained in the house.  Ginger saw me, squawked, and went running down into the orchard.  We walked back and forth together (at a distance).  Trying another approach, I threw down the scratch in the pen, propping the gate open, and headed her in that direction.  We started doing laps, first in one direction, then another, with Miss Ditz going past the gate every time.  With chickens to let out and goats to milk, I gave up.  When the flock came out of the coop, Ginger desperately wanted to join them.  Chicken herding is a two-man job; one to open the gate when the hen is close enough and one to chase the chicken.  Can't leave the gate open when the others are in the pen, or there'd be no chickens in the pen, period.

Hoping Ginger had learned her lesson, I went out in the evening to tuck everyone in.  That was a futile hope as we had a rerun of the night before and once again I had to leave her to her fate.  I'll bet she was one sorry chicken.  Well after dark, a big thunder-and-lightning storm rolled in, with strong gusting wind but only a smattering of rain.

There has been no update since 9:30 last night, when the King was at 81,994 acres.  Fingers crossed that no new fires were started by lightning.  Hwy. 50 through Placerville is lined with signs thanking the firefighters, and placards hang on every overpass.  Camille called with a full report, saying that she had talked with a firefighter from Orange County who told her that he'd never seen such community support.  "We never see anything like this at home."  I've heard that no personnel can pay for anything in any restaurant; either the food is given free or the bill is paid by patrons.

UPDATE:  7:15 a.m., 82,018 acres, 5,094 personnel.

No update available on Ginger at this time.