Don & I returned home, after being gone for several weeks, to this scene in our driveway... 20+ firemen were conducting brush fire drills in our canyon. I had a good time on our trip, BUT, THIS "eye candy" was worth coming home to!!

Michele....some gals have ALL the luck!

You are right Michelle, great eye candy!

I am wondering though... what was your first thought when you came upon all the firemen in your driveawy? It would have scared the #(*$& out of me!

Margo, this was just too good to not share!

Good point, Arlene. Forgot to say that they conduct these drills every year, but usually just one fire unit (consisting of 5 men). This year, they are using our property for over 100 fire units - more to come!! The other side of this is they told Don that they expect a very serious fire danger in our canyon this year....we are finally ready to move after going through this for 19 years...

What a sight to come home to, Michele. Love the photo.

Didn't you just complete some major rennovations? It would be a shame to move now that you have the house they you want it. But, 19 years of worrying takes its toll. Where would you go?

I would definitely be looking forward to that....

The fires on the other hand... NO THANKS

Michele: Thanks for sharing -

Michele,

Oh Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not a darn thing wrong with "our" men but no harm in looking - we all know "they" do :p :p

Nothing wrong with a little virtual eye candy, now is there? <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" />

Thanks, Michele. Good to hear it was just a drill! Let us know when they conduct the next one. We'll have our next LCT gathering at your place! :D

Yes, Donna, we remodeled for the 2nd time last year. Fires, earthquakes, mudslides, & lot line adjustments have all taken a toll on us over the years. Time to make life a lot easier! Where to? We've been looking & looking. Would welcome ideas.

It's going to be a long HOT summer for SoCal, as Denise well knows. We're bracing ourselves. We saw how serious the fires were in Florida while we were in the Bahamas recently. I'm sure you all will be enduring the drama on TV. We're having a terrible rattlesnake year here, also. (Another drawback to our lifestyle in these canyons.)

After we drove up to this spectacle, Don saw me with the camera....he said, "Why are you taking pictures???" I said, "Who, me?? Just documenting....." Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Michele, you've had your share of issues! Wish I had some relocation suggestions for you. We like Tucson but it's growing too fast. Plus it's hot in the summer and water's going to become more and more an issue. Alan wants to look at Montana but that's certainly not all-year either, winter's are too cold and snowy...brrrr. I'm not sure if I want two places. I don't want it to interfer with my travel schedule!

One reason we picked Tucson was lack of natural disasters. With the way our Earth is changing, looks like fires can happen anywhere and there's always something to contend with. If you find the perfect spot, let us know!

Meanwhile, keep clicking with your camera and enjoy the view. Some things, guys just don't need to get ;)

See you on FJORDS.

Unfortunately, we are in for a horrendous fire season here.

I know I couldn't deal with rattlesnakes!

I honestly can't think of any place that is 100% ideal. If anyone knows the answer to this question, I'd certainly like to know. We've been discussing places to retire and have come up empty so far. Maybe the best place is on a ship!

One request, Michele....zoom lens! ;) During the next drill you may have the "fixings" for next years calendar guys!

Denise, LOL

Oh,I forgot to mention rattlesnakes. For the first time in seven years, we've seen them up close - in our front courtyard (really gave the cleaning lady a fright) plus headed for an open garage door. I'm sure they've been around all along...seeing them is a good reminder for me to be more careful!

Found a dead scorpion in the guest room three days after company stayed in there!

Denise and Michele, I hope the forecasters are wrong and fire season will be an easier one.

Gosh, Donna. I thought it was strange that you said you hadn't seen them out there in the brush where you live. Now, I'll be terrified whenever I visit you!! How many and how big? How did you get rid of it?

Probably just a teenager. I've seen them on the road and other places, just not immediately around our house.

Alan swept the one headed for the garage into the plants along our driveway. Then, he called the Fire Dept (they come and take your snakes away) but by the time they got here, the snake was gone. They told Alan that next time, he should kill it. Well, we really don't want to upset the balance of nature like that.

About a day later, the cleaning lady was walking through the front gate and a snake rattled at her then disappeared. We never did find it. That time, we WERE going to kill it. Just what we need, our cleaning lady getting bit by a rattlesnake. By the time the lawsuit would be over, she would probably own the house! (just kdding).

I thought you weren't allowed to kill them? How do you kill them?

Michele,

Is that LA County Fire? Our neighbor conducts those drills since he is on brush clearance - we have a small panel fire truck parked in front of our house - I'd hate it but we are lucky to have a small fire truck handy with all the resuce supplies in case plus he will take care of the fires or rattlers or other unwanted creatures that appear. Bet he was one of the pieces of eye candy. he fought all the fires out your way last year. Frank's son is a Battalion Chief with Riverside Fire. For a few years it was his job to drive the big hook and ladder truck. Always lots to look at around when he has an event at his house with all the firemen there.

As far as a place to live, I'd say next door to a fireman is definitely a big plus.

Ngaire's got the best idea of all - live with a fireman!

Michele - I hope this also means the turkeys will have to take up residence elsewhere. what's the schedule for our Brush Fire Brunch Fests this year? Serving turkey? We'll be there, for sure!

Cheers, Anne

Funny that "the ideal place to live" has become a topic on LTC. We just returned from a trip to Asheville, NC and absolutely fell in love with it. The climate is moderate with some change of seasons. It is not crowded and we have never met such friendly people. Unfortunately, they do have snakes, but not as many as out west. It was an extreme culture shock returning to south Florida. We are definitely considering a move.

Nini

Michele, what a great picture!! You find some pretty cool things in your driveway ;)

Karen, Don't you mean "hot" things in Michele's driveway????

Donna, we're hoping the predictions are wrong; however, considering that this has been such a tremendously dry year, a very bad fire season is an unfortunate inevitable. We hope for the best, but anticipate the worst.

Nini, our daughter lives in Asheville and just adores it. She owns a ceramic shoppe in the Biltmore Historic Village. We will be up there in a week to help her celebrate her birthday, and I'm going to be her guest artst and will be giving two brushstroke clases....what fun. It is an ideal place to live and or visit.

Doris - I couldn't agree more - I knew we would like it but never dreamed how much. We looked at some property and should know more this week.

We stayed near Biltmore Village at a B&B called Cedar Crest. It was lovely but the breakfasts were way too fattening (but way too good, too).

Nini, did you spend any time in the village? It is quite well thought out and has great shopping! My daughter lives in the Asheville country club area and loves it. Good luck I know you will love it there too...

Doris - Yes - we walked down there the first afternoon that we were in Asheville. We loved it - the shops were beautiful and it is beautifully laid out. The area we are looking in is North Asheville and Weaverville because one of our daughters is moving to that area as well.

Nini