Tomorrow we go off line

Tomorrow morning Alec and I are returning to Tassajara. Fun time is over. Back to work. This is my last post. Woof woof, Ginger

I am a Well Actualized Canine!

Scooter and I have come to town (Santa Cruz) form our mountain top retreat in Boulder Creek (Thank you Esther Campos!). Just moments ago we finished our walk along West Cliff (see photo) and well Scooter just wants you all to know that I have become a well socialized and actualized Canine!

Now I am not making any promises about my behavior once I get back to TJ but Scooter is besides himself and beaming with pride at how "good" I was during our little trip to the beach this afternoon. Now I know that "good" is just another form of dualistic discrimination but the poor little guy has been trying so hard with me so I thought I would throw him a bone. (I kill myself!)

Last time we went to West Cliff for a little stroll I was a bit more on the defensive, and with good reason. Scooter had met this Laura person who picked us up and took us to West Cliff here in Santa Cruz. I could tell that Scooter thought she was cute cuz he just wasn't paying attention to all the dangers which were facing him. So I took a proactive stance when faced with such threats as small children on bicycles, people walking, people walking with dogs!, and, gasp, dogs off their leashes! So while Scooter and Laura were engrossed in such heady topics as "I as a Libra, don't really believe in astrology!" and "Gee your hair smells terrific!" (Yuck! At least tell her her butt smells terrific..), I made it my mission to intercept and destroy all these potential malfeasors! It got so tedious: Scooter would be telling Laura about his "Law Degree" (big whoop!)while I had my fangs sunk deep into some basset's haunches while the basset's owner is screaming at Scooter about little ol' moi! Too precious. So after that it was quite amusing watching Scooter trying to impress this woman while holding me face down in the sand while I growled and bared my fangs.

So today I was little Miss perfect pooch. I healed past all passers; canine, human, and vela (of or pertaining to a bicycle) and then when we got to the beach I met Dexter, the setter/lab mix and Sheila the pitbull and a number of others of my species and we all had a marvelous and most civilized time romping in the waves. I didn't even growl at anybody the whole time!

Too bad Scooter was alone.

To top off a perfect day at the beach even scooter got some well deserved praise while bent over and scooping my doggie doodie into a plastic bag: "Good Human!" shouted a bicyclist. I shit you not!

Well were off to the Seshinn at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Kiss kiss woof woof,

Ginger

We're Going Back!!!

Yea! We're going back next week..watch out Monkey Scat! Scooter wants to remind everyone that certain lifestyle changes may soon need to be made and he offers the following list of his own to consider.....



(Scooter's) Note to self:

Top ten things to do Before Tuesday return to Tassajara:

1. Finish off McDonald's Big Mac coupons.
2. Reset alarm clock from 11:00 am to 530 am
3. Cancel Net flix subscription
   
4. Find better hiding place for porn
   
5. Stop yelling across room.
6. No more composting beer cans
7. Preface all utterances with "So..."
8. Set auto-responder for E Harmony account
9. Limit spooning with Ginger to two hours a night
10. Measure A/C unit for Dorm 3's window
    

Thank You

Ginger has the night off. She and her new friend Kala are living up high in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Tim and I went surfing today at Sharks beach in Santa Cruz. I just want to take this opportunity to say:

Dear Everybody:

Thank you all for the love and courage it took to save Tassajara.

Thank you to the students who stood their ground and sat their practice in the face of danger, hard work, and frustration.

Thank you to Leslie James and Keith Meyeroff. Their own home is hanging in the balance as I write this. Thank you both for your tireless hours of coordination, errand running, phone calling and answering, anxiety assuaging, housing placing, driving, feeding, and all the other myriad things.

Thank you David Zimmerman without whose leadership we would certainly be facing a different outcome. Thank you for making the tough decisions and for standing your watch to the very end.

Thank you Mako and Graham for your equanimity, leadership, skill, knowledge and courage.

Thank you Colin for your uprightness and bravery and most certainly your humor.

Thank you Steve Stuckey, the admiral who stayed with his fleet through the darkness and danger.

Thank you Chris and Kathleen for everything.

Thank you Shundo. Thank you Greg Fain. Thank you Devon.

Thank you Robert Thomas for your guidance, comfort and leadership. Thank you for correctly acknowledging the fearless sacrifice demonstrated by all the students who struggled so hard with clearing and digging to break the co-arising attachments of flammable materials connecting Tassajara to the organic antecedents of fire.

Thank you cooks, dishwashers and room cleaners who supported all the efforts of the myriad beings fighting the fires. Thank you fire fighters. Thank you inmates.

Thank you Sonja for calling everyday and for chanting our names and keeping us together in your heart.

Thank you to the myriad supporters of Tassajara and of Zen Center. Thank you for housing and feeding us and for sitting with us.

Thank you Katherine, Jean Marie and the Santa Cruz Zen Center for taking such great care of me and Ginger.

Thank you survivors of Marble-Cone for your anecdotes, poetry and the comfort of experience.

Thank you lightning for striking far enough away to give us time to work with our abilities and our limitations.

Thank you water. What would we do without you?

Thank you fire for testing us, singeing us, teaching us,
and ultimately for sparing us and our home and place of practice.

Thank you Suzuki Roshi, you always knew what you were up to.

Thank you all for all the conditions and causes that manifest as you, my heroes, my family, my heart.

love,

Alec

2008 is not 1977!

There appears to be a great deal of expertise expressed by persons who were present at the 1977 fire which threatened Tassajara. The consensus of this expertise appears to be that the fire crept in then and it will creep in now. Based upon my own crash review of the fundamental science involved this reasoning appears to me to be flawed. This does not mean that it is more likely that the fire will be more severe and/or dangerous today; only that it cannot be assumed that it will be as benign as it was in 1977.

We should seriously question our continued reliance upon this historic anecdote as a predictor of the present behavior of this fire and the potential danger to persons and property at Tassajara. Of the myriad dynamics, variables and factors which potentate and exacerbate combustion and conductivity of wildfires, only one, topography, can be said to be identical in both cases.

Granted that the most important factor contributing to forest fire ignition is topography, which also contributes to issues related to rate/distance due to rising and falling over elevation changes. But once fire is ignited the meteorological variables become the most significant factors in determining its speed and severity. The air temperature, instability of the air column, and the saturation deficit at the lower levels are without doubt the most significant. The intensity of fires and the rate with which they spread is directly rated to the wind speed, temperature and relative humidity. Climatic conditions such as long term drought also play a major role in the number and intensity of wildfires. Accurate and timely weather information is vital to the planning and execution of strategies for suppressing wildfires. Since weather varies significantly over time it is not likely that the same conditions related to wind, humidity and heat were occurring in 1977 as now.

Fire risk and behavior also depend on the fuel properties such as moisture content. Context information on vegetation water content is vital for understanding the processes involved in initiation and propagation of forest fires. While the class and type of local flora has probably not changed, it should not be assumed that moisture content, growth area and biomass remain constant.

Therefore I urge those making the important decisions to consider that the fire we face today could act significantly different than in 1977.

Tassajara Evacuated: They are out and Safe!

All remaining students were evacuated from Tassajara this afternoon due to high winds. The last car of the convoy turned back. The director David Zimmerman, Abbot Steve Stuckey and three senior Dharma students are alone at TJ. Zen Center is not releasing the names of the Zen Students.

MAP UPDATES 7/08/08 9:41 am PST

Satellite Imagery of Fire proximity to Tassajara current as of 8:53 am PDT 7/08/08. Red Flag warning takes effect at 8:00 pm today and is scheduled for 72 hours.

This is a critical moment.