Happy Halloween! And Celebrating 5 Years...

Happy Halloween! Unfortunately, Mark is leaving tomorrow for Long Island, for a week of training. We are having a final Family Day complete with pumpkin carving. Luckily, though Mark will miss Halloween,
we have already had a costume party at the YMCA. The kids are dragons this year! Thanks to Amy for the hand-me-down costumes.

The glorious peak of "Autumn" colors have just blazed through West Virginia the last few days, and we have celebrated it with hikes and leaf-collecting.

Also, of course, we just had our Five Year Anniversary last week. Evan took this impromptu picture of us. We just love this time of year, for so many reasons!

Last Saturday, Mark was the Incident Meteorologist for Bridge Day, the largest annual event in West Virginia... this year, it brought an estimated 155,000 people. The weather behaved (sustained winds stayed just below the critical event-closing 15 mph), and there were only 5 or 6 minor injuries... last year, there was a fatality. Just incredible: 876 parachute jumps ("basejumping") off of the New River Gorge Bridge, coincidentally a 876 foot drop. Also rafters, kayakers, and repellers. Check out the 2 1/2 minute video Mark put together on our subsidiary website, pellfam backdrops. If this teaser video doesn't make you want to see it, nothing will:



Have a good Halloween! -Mark, Marisa, Autumn, and Evan

5th Anniversary! and Leaf Play Video

Hello all,

Just a quick update to let you know: The Leaf Play Video is now available on the right side of the webpage. Click on it to feel like a kid again!

And we're on the eve of our 5th Anniversary! Tomorrow, we both have to work but will be going out with some friends on a dinner date followed by Kathy Griffin, live at the Clay Center. I'm sure we'll enjoy it after wading through the crowd of protesters... (see letter to the editor "Protest Griffin’s Emmy blasphemy" at bottom of this page -http://wvgazette.com/webtools/email/Opinion/Letters/2007101036)

-Mark

Carrots, frozen peas, leaves, chuck e. cheese, a hike, and pellfam backdrops (?!?!)

Just a little bit of everything, crammed into the past 3 days! It all began with Marisa's harrowing epi-K laser eye surgery Friday morning, followed by sleep for most of the rest of the day. The perk for the kids was a surprise trip to Chuck E. Cheese, so that Marisa could continue her rest. And thanks to us crashing another child's birthday party, Autumn and Evan were absolutely enamored to meet Chuck IN PERSON.

Marisa was pretty much in utter pain all weekend with stinging eyes that could be barely forced to remain open longer than a few seconds. The first post-surgery check-up was Saturday morning, which was followed by the kids' first visit to Krispy Kreme, next door to the eye center. It was a good thing that a window separated them from the donut machine, because they were enthralled. After that, we really needed to be around some HEALTHY food, so it was time to harvest the carrot crop out of our garden. We repeatedly had to stop Autumn from consuming unwashed carrots caked with dirt.

Finally, things got a tad better for Marisa's eyes after a quick visit to the laser eye doc's office and the magic of temporary dilation. The good news that we found out is that they're already 85% healed, and with the eye bandages/contacts still in place, it's actually a big part of why her eyes have been hurting so much. And why she has had to "Give Peas a Chance" all weekend.

We then explored St. Albans City Park for the first time and had a picnic complete with nature hike. The kids loved exploring the forest and collecting leaves.

Finally, the simple joys of playing in the leaves late this afternoon. Yay! And I had no idea how good sleds (obtained from garage sale yesterday for $4 for the pair) could work on leaves, with just a little bit of a slope. I can't wait to show you the video... which I'll upload to the website in coming days.

A bit exhausted, but a pretty fun few days. So, that covers everything in the title of this blog entry. Oh, wait... except for pellfam backdrops. Whazzat? Well...

ANNOUNCING PELLFAM BACKDROPS, another wing of the pellfam blogworld. A place for us to share some of the surroundings of our life here in WV, or the places we travel. The first installment: Bridges. One thing this area has plenty of is large rivers, and thus, plenty of beautiful spans across them. Check it out! Pellfam Backdrops will not be updated as frequently as our family website, but I'll let you know here the times that it is. And the link is always available on the right, under the Time/Temp bug.

-Mark

Another wild weekend!

We were treated to another fun weekend thanks to a visit from Grandma Laurie! We took a trip to the rip-roaring Pumpkin Festival in Milton, and Saturday went to The World Hospice Day picnic, organized by the amazing volunteers at my place of employment! Evan chose to have his face painted as a wolf, while Autumn opted for the fiesty kitten look - both appropriate to how they've been acting up lately! The important thing though is that the kids are angelic at school. After sadly dropping off Grandma at the airport Sunday, we went out to a local campground to hang out with our old Timberlake friends, Zach and Teresa, who were visiting from out of state. The kids had a blast running around as the night grew dark! And we had a delicious camp meal together before parting again for many months. This weekend we will be taking it easy after another hectic workweek, and on Friday I am going in for laser eye surgery! After nineteen years of glasses and contacts, I'm taking the plunge (thanks to Mark's tremendous overtime earnings while working the wildfire in Idaho!). I'll be trying to relax and recover this weekend... no easy task with our little monkeys!




And finally, the latest quotable notables:

"I want to be a firefighter when I grow up… actually, I want to be a Princess." -Autumn talking to Daddy after getting picked up from preschool.

"I’m being a teacher, I want to be a teacher when I grow up… actually, I want to be a scooter driver." -Autumn, while giving Marisa a "lesson"

"…with Justice and Liverpie for all." -Autumn trying to recall the Pledge of Allegiance

"Hey dad, that day we went on a nature hike was 2 days ago… or 3... or 4 or 5... or 1 or 2." -Evan a few days after camping

"Autumn, do you know what Life cereal is for? It makes your life safed." -Evan at breakfast yesterday

Kids say the darndest things...

We just got back from a tiring but fun weekend campout at Kanawha State Forest, with the UUC (United Universalist Congregation). Hiking, biking, campfire, marshmallows, etc. And also, a 1 a.m. trip to the bathroom during the crisp clear cold night with a nearly full moon. Awesome.

We also used our new camcorder, which records in widescreen format. For website purposes, that means having to squish it down a bit from the original. So no, we haven't lost weight. :) Enjoy the new video on the right side of the site.

The kids lately have been saying all sorts of darndest things... here's a sampling:

EVAN:
"Daddy, does your armpit hair tickle your armpit?"
"What's an armpit for? I guess we'll have to ask God that one!"

"I definitely love camping."
(unsolicited response while laying in the tent)

"Winter... Spring... Summer... Fall... Winter... Spring... Summer... ZZZZZZZZZ"
(The last thing Evan said before falling asleep in the tent)

AUTUMN:
"I guess God will fix that... How will God get here?"
(Autumn riding by a pothole on a path while we were camping in Kanawha State Forest)

"Mrs. Frunga lives in a lovely white house... with flowers and birthday cakes... but not birthday cakes to eat."
(Autumn making up a storyline while we were driving through a nice, hilly neighborhood)

That's just from memory... we've promised ourselves to write down their cute quotes more often, before we forget them. They say these kinds of things nearly on a daily basis.

-Mark

On the Bike Trail

Fall is falling! The kids enjoyed a recent trip to a nearby wooded bike trail in Huntington, while Mark and I got a much-needed workout chasing after them. At a lookout in the park, Evan took this picture of the bridge by himself! We were very impressed. This weekend we are going camping with the families in our church and Mark has promised the weather will be lovely - cold enough that we'll even have to bundle up and cuddle in the tent tommorrow night! We might have a picture or two to put on the blog in a few days...

A beautiful weekend!

We celebrated the cooler, beautiful weather by playing at the park, and later on Saturday Mark took Evan to the Marshall game! They had a blast. Autumn and I had a mommy-daughter date which involved grocery shopping (which she loves) and out to dinner. Things have been good lately except for some major Evan temper tantrums. Last night after swimming at the pool he stood in the parking lot and screamed for over five (very long) minutes for someone to carry him twenty feet to the car because his legs were tired. We're beginning to take away priviledges now, such as last night when he had to go to bed without bedtime stories. I thought we were done with the tantrums after they were two!

First MOPS meeting a success!

On Tuesday, after much preparation of the MOPS Steering Team, we had a wonderful first meeting with nearly 30 moms in attendance. This year's theme is The Home Factor, and we encorporated the theme by making our first meeting a housewarming party! I really love this great team of women I'm working with, and looking forward to this year. I'm also very thankful that I'm able to work and still have Tuesdays off to do MOPS. All the kids go to MOPPETS while the Moms get their time together. For more info on MOPS, there is a link at the right to the International website. I'm not going to convention this year, with work and all, but five women from our group are going to Orlando next week. Have fun girls!

Daddy's Home

I made it back home yesterday evening, to gather my long-anticipated and sorely-missed hugs and kisses. Marisa and the kids met me at the airport, even though I had my car parked there. Why? Well, it took Daddy all of two seconds upon arrival for my brain to shut off... I put some of my bags into the trunk WITH MY KEYS. My mind woke up a fraction of a second after my arms pushed down to say "No, wait you idiot!" (perhaps some four letter words were mixed in) but it was too late. So there I was on the cell phone, "Honey, I made it home!... now come to the airport cuz I locked my keys in the trunk."

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I encountered an interesting phenomonom while visiting the few very small towns that are threatened by the wildfire. Many weeks ago, the fire fighters wrapped up a lot of the buildings and houses in fire-resistant foil. They looked like Christmas presents. Most of the residents are grateful for all of the protection, but a few our starting to get eager (and LOUD) to take the wrapping off pre-emptively. It's been like that for more than 50 days. One of the challenges of managing and incident, is managing to locals! There always seems to be that voiceful few, that no matter how much is done for them, it's never enough and they are never happy. But the vast majority are wonderful to work with.

On my last full day in Idaho, my new trainer Dave and I drove to Mammoth Mountain to the fireline. We had a couple days of cooler weather after a little bit of rain, so the fire was tame enough to get close. It was creeping and smoldering slowly in the direction of the wind.

We also went up to Lemon Saddle, for a good view. Recent rain and cooler temperatures brought some real clarity the air, so you could see more detail of the fire area... with little plumes of smoke rising throughout (waiting for the next critical fire weather day).

The next morning, right before I left, was breathtakingly beautiful. A heavy frost covered the ground around camp, and fog filled much of the valley while rising from the Red River.

Finally, after going through the demobilization process, I took the long but scenic 6 hour drive out of the Nez Perce National Forest, to Boise where I would spend the night before flying back. And on the way out of the forest is this piece of mountain, overhanging the road. Very cool.

An incredible couple of weeks, but I'm glad to finally be home!

Important thanks to my co-workers, who covered my shifts while I was gone, to my trainers, who taught me so much... and of course to Marisa for taking care of EVERYTHING on the homefront. Today, we're both lazy and totally out of energy, just hanging around the house.

-Mark

Update from Idaho: Overwhelmed from my experience... coming home soon

Not much time - gotta sleep!

In short, one of the most challenging things I have ever done.

Top photo: Just stepped out after familiarizing myself with the Rattle- snake Fire via Llama (a kind of helicopter), during my first full day here. Second photo: The rough location of our fire is circled in red on this visible satellite picture (click for larger photo). YES, that's all wildfire smoke in Idaho! On September 3rd a couple days ago, what would have been an explosive day with extreme fire conditions was muted a bit - only because the explosive development to fires immediately to our south in Payette National Forest. Those southern fires sent an incredible amount of smoke over us, preventing full mixing of high winds and keeping temperatures from reaching their full potential. The western edge of our fire still took off a bit, because it was just outside the other fires' smoke plumes and received sunshine.

Sunset picture: Sunset that active evening, with heavy smoke overhead. We had ashfall here at camp... a light dusting on vehicles.

River photo: After almost two hours of driving a winding road, including 6 miles of hairpin turns down the Salmon River Canyon, we reached the "The River of No Return Wilderness." Someone today came across 5 bears there. As for me, I've seen a moose (on Moose Butte of all places), coyote, and muledeer.

Flying over the Rattlesnake Fire. You may have to click for the larger version if you want to see any actual flames on the lower right corner. This was on a day of fairly light activity.
Here's camp as seen before landing with the helicopter.

My trainer Jim and I digest the forecast from our office in Red River Forest Station.

Giving a weather briefing to residents of Orogrande, population 24-ish.

Tracking a "pibal" balloon. Elevation and Azimuth readings are written every minute, and we enter it into a computer program to get a profile of winds from the surface to (if we can follow the balloon long enough) 10,000 feet or so off the ground.

That's it for now. Expecting 20s for lows the next several nights! Lucky for me, I come home Saturday.

Marisa, Autumn, and Evan: Daddy can't wait to see you! -Mark

And to help Daddy...

...get through his last week in Idaho! We miss you and love you!

A Weekend Outing

The kids and I headed up to the Cleveland area this weekend to visit Grandpa Berry. The weather was beautiful! Nice to get away from our endless humidity here. The kids had a blast! Highlights included fishing (Evan actually caught a sunfish, which unfortunately I didn't get a picture of), swimming in the pool, and going to the fire station for a tour! We had a nice time.

Update from Idaho: Exhausted

Hi y'all. Just briefly: Working this other fire, buried very deep into the near-wilderness mountains and forests of central Idaho, has been very challenging and exhausting. Yesterday I was in a helicopter flying over the fire and very steep terrain. Today we did a public briefing for the threatened town of Orogrande, population roughly 20 (and about 80% of the them showed!). Expecting critical fire conditions Monday (very low humidity, very warm temp, gusts to 35 mph) but it will be followed by a dramatic cool down and possible significant rain Tuesday/Wednesday. Expecting to be able to come back home late this week. All I want to do is sit on the couch with Marisa and the kids, and watch Winnie the Pooh.

It's 11:10 p.m. Pacific Time. Gotta go to bed. I literally have no time to post anything else, I'll try again soon (including pics). My usual work hours here have been 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Google "Rattlesnake Fire" if you want to read up on what's going on!
-Mark

Update from Idaho: Likely Going to a Different Fire

Going to keep this brief, gotta go to bed! Biggest news is that management of this fire is downscaling to type 3, and it looks like they're reassigning me to another type 2 wildfire for the rest of my dispatch. Thursday, I drive to the Rattlesnake Fire near Elk City, Idaho. I'll post more about that later, probably well after I get there. This photo is from yesterday when my trainer Joe took me to 8000 ft elevation to get a better look at the Shower Bath fire.

Here are some small photos of the sights around camp and near the fire, click on them for bigger versions.
Coppery, smoky sunset a couple hours after a huge smoke column burst into the sky.

Chopper picking up water to douse a flank of the fire (not taken be me).

Check out the pyro-cumulus! Formed when heat of the fire made the air unstable. In the foreground is the mostly smoldering Shower Bath Fire... in the pyrocumulus is actually from the Red Bluff Fire, farther west behind the horizon.

Welcome to my office, hours 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. or so.

Camp life...