fire in the hills

looking west towards the Caldecott

Fire crews are close to containing a fire in the hills between Oakland and Orinda. As you can see in this frame from KPIX, it's on the hillside immediately south of highway 24 on the Orinda side of the tunnel. According to KPIX, the fire is mostly contained, and no homes or other structures have been threatened.

I was riding past Lake Temescal on way home from the Red Cross, and heard lots of fire engines, then saw several aircraft over the hills. There was a larger plane dropping retardant, and a smaller plane that I'm guessing was a spotter. And there was a helicopter that came and filled its bucket in Lake Temescal. I saw it just after it had gotten a load and was heading back for another water drop.

firefighting helicopter
over Lake Temescal

signs: Thrifty 1 Hour Cleaners

Thrifty 1 Hour Cleaners

Behold the power of the atom! Able to get whites whiter, and colors, er, colorer! All in one hour! Or at least that seems to be the subtle message behind this sign at Thrifty 1 Hour Cleaners in the Laurel.

signs: McNally's Pub

McNally's Irish Pub

On College Ave. near the library, next door to the Garibaldi's and the recently opened Marzano is the Oakland institution, McNally's Irish Pub. Besides their name in neon, they've got various neon beer signs including the mandatory (for an Irish pub, that is) Guinness sign.

Garibaldi's, Marzano, and McNally's,
with a "draft beer installation" truck
thrown in for good measure

Community Feast at St. Paul's

St. Paul's Episcopal Church 2nd Annual Community Feast
"Nourishing One Another In Abundance"

An evening of conversation about food justice, sustainability, and how we can help to nourish ourselves and others in prosperous and troubled times. We will talk with neighbors who have found ways to share the abundance of what we have---even when we don't know how much that is. Come learn how to make more of your gifts, to be self-sustaining, and in turn to help feed those in need.

The dinner will include a home-cooked meal, wine, and speakers from City Slicker Farms, Peoples Grocery, St. Mary's and others. Cost of the event is $20. To reserve a seat or a table, email rsvp@stpaulsoakland.org.

All proceeds support St. Paul's community service projects, City Slicker Farms & People's Grocery.

Event Info
DATE: Saturday, September 26
TIME: 6 to 8 p.m.
LOCATION: 114 Montecito Avenue, Oakland, CA
COST: $20
RESERVE YOUR SPACE: rsvp@stpaulsoakland.org (but you can also apparently walk in)

For more information about the event, visit our website at http://www.stpaulsoakland.org.

City Slicker Farms

City Slicker Farms

West Oakland is blessed with a unique resource, City Slicker Farms. While much of Oakland has an array of supermarkets and farmers markets to get good produce from, West Oakland is largely left with small corner markets and liquor stores. That's where City Slicker Farms comes in. They grow fresh, affordable produce for West Oakland residents.

They also work to empower residents to understand the connection between ecology, environment, and food, and become more self-sufficient by growing their own food. They currently sell fruits, vegetables and honey to West Oakland residents. The last round of Americorps with Habitat for Humanity East Bay worked in their spare time and built a chicken coop, so eggs will eventually be available, too.

awesome looking tomatoes

City Slicker Farms