Interesting Lake View

This is in no way horse related, but I think you'll find it interesting.

You might remember that last fall we moved out to the edge of town along a small lake. We've enjoyed watching the birdlife, fishing from our back yard, and most especially, we've delighted in the peace and quiet.

Newly working fountain.

One way to beat the heat.

On Friday afternoon, that peace and quiet was shattered by a distinctive whomp whomp whomp. I zoomed out to the back patio to see a helicopter flying over our pool!

Not the view you expect to see from your suburban backyard.

We see helicopters in Bakersfield when someone's been lost in the river and the sheriff is doing a search and rescue, or when BPD is tracking a suspect on foot. Neither of those things seemed likely in my neighborhood. A quick glance to the southeast revealed a smoke-filled sky.

That's EXACTLY where I fish!

I could hear the helicopters landing close by, but I couldn't see where, so I went out our back gate and followed the lake path around the corner. I met the rest of my neighbors sitting in the grass. When the helicopters returned, I had to pick my jaw up off the grass at the sight of those huge machines hovering over my fishing spot. They were drawing water out of the lake to spray on the grass fire that was just a few miles to the south.

I know it's hard to tell, but those helicopters were right in the middle of our neighborhood. It might look like they were some distance away, but they were practically on top of us. The spray generated from their blades soaked me as they hovered there. The wind was so strong that you had to shield your face from the sting. I watched them refill their tanks three or four times before heading back to the house, but they came and went for several hours.

It made for an interesting view!

My husband made it home from work to see them in action too. I was sorry to see those guys working so hard, fire season's going to be bad this year, but it was a pretty exciting afternoon for my quiet little neighborhood!

My husband drove over to the burned area on Sunday. Several homes were threatened in the blaze but nothing but grass burned.