The BPL community and us

[Kattt]

I know this is more of a chaff like post but I believe it should reach members that don’t venture over there.
First of all we want to thank all of you  that have supported us through this ordeal, with money, with offers for temporary housing and with kind words. Thank you!
Thank you Ryan for everything you have done, really.
Thank you Doug, for so much.

I have read every post and plan on replying to them not too far into the future.

As of yesterday and more so today, it’s looking like the fires are under control and we are no longer in danger of losing Chris’ shop at the farm/ranch. We have gotten two decent nights of sleep now, if a bit jumpy but that will take a while.
Chris has a small trailer/office inside one of the barns and we slept there the last two nights, on a comfortable bed no less :)

We have been running around 18 hours a day, cutting trees, dozing around buildings, setting up generators, fixing neighboring farms generators and other equipment, moving equipment to help Calfire etc.  Thankfully we each have a paper signed by a Calfire chief, designating us as critical workers so we are able to make it trough the closures, which have gotten pretty intense; owning a home or a farm is not enough to get one in.

Chris’s truck has been powering the ranch this whole week. Today we went to Treasure island and picked up another 30KW generator that we will plumb in the next day or two. Our first purchase since this ordeal.
Our plan for the near future is to get this place functioning and  safe again, for us and for others that are farming and working here; we won’t be looking for housing for a while as this place is central both for our community and for our ability to recover from all this. When things come back to some normalcy, and we don’t know what that will look like, we hope to find something nearby.
Our kids are ok, a bit spread out, but we have been able to keep in touch at least for basic things.

Our stretch of coast is looking a bit like a war zone and it’s been feeling like one too. I still have not made it back to the site of our home; those pictures were taken by Libby. I would like to make it up there soon ; it will be hard as I already ache for it but I need some sense of closure. We know many, many people that have lost their homes as well; this is a shared hardship. Like us many of our friends are out helping their neighbors and making sure that there is a sense of strength and of  moving forward.

This community has done a lot for us. Thank you. We will do all we can to be of help to our community here on the coast. As I wrote on my IG account…“we are not broken, just a bit banged up”. Thanks for helping us out.

[Ryan Jordan]

It’s a privilege to be part of a community that can help you and Chris move forward, Katt. Thank you for the update, and it’s great to hear from you – Godspeed.

[David Thomas]

As one who kicked into the GoFundMe campaign and made a housing offer, for myself and I suspect for many if not all folks who did likewise, please don’t feel ANY obligation to write thank-you notes, etc other than the group-wide one you just did.  A group-wide update next month would be great, but only because I’m curious about “the rest of the story. .  .”

“Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen” is one of the few things Marx got right and I think it applies to you this month as one in need, and also very much applies to you and Chris in so many ways, as you’ve each given so very much of your abilities for the benefit of other BPLers and all of your neighbors.

[Kevin Babione]

I’ll second David’s post – If you give us updates here to let us know how you’re making out that will be enough.  Your heartfelt thanks are obvious in your posts and I’m sure all of us who were able to support you through GoFundMe never expected any direct “thank you” from you.  Focus on getting your lives back in order.

[bjc]

Katt, you helping out your neighbors has given us all the thanks we need. Peace.

[jscott]

Agree with David and others that you HAVE replied to us all, just now and elsewhere. Take care and rest when you can!

[Kattt]

Thanks guys. I will check in then to report on progress.
This picture made it in the news, not sure who took it. This is the place Chris saved and that we are currently staying at. My International right there…I had driven it out a bit for when we’d have to bolt and could not drive all vehicles out at once.

[Jerry Adams]

That would have been a bummer if your IH had been destroyed

[d k]

Yes, please don’t feel you need to respond individually!  Your being safe is thanks enough.

[Kattt]

Today we got power back at the farm/ranch where the shop is, which is where we are staying. We had been using a generator for 31 days so this feels like luxury.
We have not been looking for another place yet because when we do it will have to be nearby; Chris works from 6am till past dark 7 days a week and commuting just isn’t an option. We may stay in the room in the barn for a while. It has the essentials; it has not been the easiest adjustment for me but our family is going through more  losses  right now so priorities have changed.
I still have all the money; once we have a chance we’ll start using it to make more of a home for us either here or where we end up.

Thank you all . This community has embraced us and we feel it.

[Author]

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