Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

"What, Me Worry?"

#1

That used to be the catchphrase of the unofficial mascot of “Mad” magazine.
(Am I the only one who thinks he bears a striking resemblance to a well-known online banjo instructor?)

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The phrase has taken on new meaning in the past two days. My daughter lives 3,000 miles away from me, and only 3 miles from the Oak Fire which is burning out of control near Yosemite National Park.
The good news is the fire seems to be spreading away from her. The bad news is fires do what they want, create their own weather and put out so much smoke breathing is hazardous.

It’s hard not to worry, and it does no good. So I’m going Alfred E. Neuman. “What, me worry?”
Now prayers are a different matter, especially for the firefighters who are really putting it all on the line.

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#2

You bet, praying for your family and those fighting the fires!

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#3

I have friends there also. They were good as of last night. Will be checking on them shortly.

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#4

There is a free app called Watch Duty that gives timely updates. Also, Mariposa county has a site that is very useful.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9cdac8da837f4ef3b9abd8d0a67ec7d4&extent=-13364434.5468%2C4505462.6676%2C-13327744.7732%2C4523215.1674%2C102100

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#5

Just heard from my friend. Helos & DC 10 flying over…lots of smoke, but still OK & making dinner now.

They have a million gallon tank of water storage for fires just down the road from his house, so he gets pretty good info from the fie crews camped out there.

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#6

My daughter sent me a pic of the DC-10 flying over her house. God bless all the firefighters.

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#7

Stephen shared several pix of helo and smoke plumes from front yard, but can’t get them to take here and they won’t resize 'cause “need portrait”. Oh well…

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#8

@BanJoe, What’s the latest on your daughter?

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#9

Nothing but good news. She & her house were untouched, the evacuees she was sheltering were able to return to their home, which is still intact, but no power for the foreseeable future.
She’s tired of all the smoke, and masks to keep particulates out of her lungs, but things could have been much worse.
As of tonight the fire has burned over 19,000 acres and is now 42% contained.
The old expression “dodged a bullet” comes to mind.
A sincere “Thank you” for all the prayers, especially for the firefighters.

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