The Big Fry/Fire Season 1

Tuesday

Last week I was at a friend’s house talking with her about the coming heat wave. Her husband came in from work, opened a bottle of great Pinot Noir and made a toast. “Here’s to The Big Fry,” he said, and we grimaced and drank.

We drank more and made our plans. I only have a window unit air conditioner in the bedroom. My friends have central air. They said they would fix up the extra bedroom for me and I can come stay if my house gets too hot. Today it was 98°. Tomorrow it is going to be 103°. The temperatures go on like that for at least a week, on Saturday it is supposed to be 106°.

There were several small fires today, one little guy in Nevada County, one larger one in El Dorado County. There is a big fire now in Butte County, up near Oroville. It’s called the Thompson Fire and it’s a pretty bad fire. It’s not close to me. I am not in danger from this fire. More fires will likely start this week.

I got a pedicure once in Oroville and I started grilling a teenager in the chair next to me about Ishi, who lived in the surrounding forest. Maybe, I said, at some point someone had told her where Ishi emerged from the woods to be “discovered?” She was confused. I asked again. She told me that there was a monument or a tablet or something about Ishi somewhere in town. I said, “No goddammit, I want to know where he came out of the woods. Is there a specific place where he came out of the woods. You went to public high school in a town known for absolutely nothing other than a reservoir, Doug LaMalfa and Ishi and you’re going to tell me you never made an Ishi diorama in elementary school or had “Ishi Week” in middle school and no one at your high school ever put on some sort of theatre production written by your English teacher called Oroville: Home of Ishi, or similar, where this information was provided?”