Be careful what you wish for. . .

[Cudedog]

How is the rain today? I am assuming that Lake Oroville is relatively low because of the recent drought, right? So, hopefully, you don't have to worry about that for a while.

Good luck with your insurance!

Thanks for asking, Judy.

I have contacted my insurance people, they say that an adjuster will call me back in a few days. There is a lot of wind damage all over the area, so I am sure that they are very busy.

Rain here today has been a bit "sporadic"; light drizzle followed by lightening skies, followed by more light drizzle. No heavy rain here at all of the kind that usually falls this time of year, but at least the ground is wet.

Ah. . . Lake Oroville. Truthfully, Oroville dam is always kind tickling away at the back of my mind. There is a lot of water impounded up there, despite the drought. . .

http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/

Is the lake level "relatively low"? Depends on what one defines as "low". According to the graph on the page above, current lake level is at 696.31 feet. This time last year it was at 799.57. 2019 as of 1/28 it was at 716. "Full Pool" is at around 900 feet.

So, still a lot of water upstream of me - but probably not (at least at the moment) coming near the top. It is, however, still an aging "earth fill" dam. Construction was started in 1961 and completed in 1968. This type of dam is generally considered to have a fifty-year life span. . .

There is a known earthquake fault that runs near the dam, capable of generating an earthquake magnitude of upwards of 5.0. The temblor that came on August, 1975, was a magnitude of 5.9. . .

Then there is the infamous Oroville dam "green spot" that appears every summer. . . Google this one if you like, just for fun.

I think I would still like to move to Klamath Falls, have visited there several times now, and quite like it. But in view of the pandemic, and other matters, the likelihood of me moving there is probably slim to none, unfortunately.

But I keep looking. I am a dedicated "Zillow Surfer", I guess.

Anne

[JudyJB]

They should never have built such a high dam, earth or not. Reminds me of how they used to build cathedrals in the middle ages--kept building them taller and taller until a couple fell down and that told them how tall they could build them!!

[Cudedog]

They should never have built such a high dam, earth or not. Reminds me of how they used to build cathedrals in the middle ages--kept building them taller and taller until a couple fell down and that told them how tall they could build them!!

I agree. There have been spectacular failures of earth-fill dams in the past (the Teton dam failure in 1976 comes to mind - and it was not nearly so tall as is Oroville dam).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teton_Dam

As you probably know, Oroville dam, at 770 feet, is the tallest dam in the United States. I very much doubt a dam of this height would be allowed to be built today. But the hubris of the time - your reference to cathedrals in the middle ages is quite apt - encouraged it's construction to go forward.

"Visiting Oroville Dam - The Tallest Dam In The Country"
https://www.explorebuttecounty.com/stories/visiting-oroville-dam-the-tallest-dam-in-the-country

Here is a photo that I believe was taken at the top of the dam (there is a road across the top of the dam) looking at the water impounded behind the dam. The photo is dated January 27th of last year, the water level at the present time is not much different that it was then. As can be seen, there is a lot of water there. (and this is only a very small part of the lake - the lake stretches away from the dam for many miles:



And this photo only shows a tiny part of the lake. Here is a general map (note that the actual dam - the location from which the photo was taken - is indicated on the lower left of the image. Looking at the map legend, it can be seen that Lake Oroville snakes ten or fifteen miles up into the foothills):



Well, thank you very much Judy. I generally try - purposefully - to keep my mind from straying to thoughts of Oroville dam. But I do think it is important not to forget it's risks.

Anne

[Colliemom]

Sorry to hear about your fence Annie. I have a kind of welded wire fence around my yard and it isn’t that hard to install. Mine is more of a vinyl covered wire fence then the harder wire, but I wish I could afford to have chain link put up. It is what it is. If I had to do it over again, I won’t have put some fence post in and stretched the harder wire from Post to post. But I wanted to throw something up to keep the dogs in after moving here, so that’s what I did,

[Cudedog]

Sorry to hear about your fence Annie. I have a kind of welded wire fence around my yard and it isn’t that hard to install. Mine is more of a vinyl covered wire fence then the harder wire, but I wish I could afford to have chain link put up. It is what it is. If I had to do it over again, I won’t have put some fence post in and stretched the harder wire from Post to post. But I wanted to throw something up to keep the dogs in after moving here, so that’s what I did,

Thanks for your input, Sue. I live in an old subdivision (house built early 50's) with close neighbors on either side and behind. After living up on my place in the Sierra foothills for 30 years, on acreage with only one neighbor in sight, I lived a very private (and soothing) life style.

My move "into town" was an adjustment, for sure.

The only saving grace has been the 6' wooden fence (the one that fell down) between the smallish neighboring lots - the fence at least gives the illusion of privacy, although one always knows when a neighbor is out in their own back yard.

Heard back from the insurance this morning, they want me to upload photos and videos of the "loss" which I will do later in the morning.

My sweet Joe has been VERY good. I am finding that I can even let him off leash in the back yard (so he can exercise), and he somehow "knows" not to go into the neighbors yard - he could easily walk across the downed fence, and I'm actually a bit surprised he has not tried it. This is a blessing - Joe is a fairly high-energy dog, and needs a vigorous exercise session (at least 1/2 hour - generally more) of "chase the Kong" every day (before the pandemic we would walk the neighborhood at a brisk pace for 45 minutes to an hour every day), followed by on-leash "forty-times-around-the-yard" (my own personal treadmill!).

I know I can't leave him out there without supervision, but when I am out there with him he stays in our yard. Makes this whole situation just a little bit easier.

Tina, thinking of you. Even dreamed about you last night - even though we have never met, you looked exactly as you do in the photos you have posted, and spoke to me with a very kind and soft voice.

Hope you are doing well, and continue to improve. This has really been a terrible marathon for you, I am sure. Sending good thoughts your way.

Anne

[MandysMom]

Sue and Anne, one thing which really stood out to me when the Navy stationed me in the east, was the big difference between how yards are defined west coast vs eastern US. My entire life, until then, I grew up in CA, where each back yard was defined by 5-6 ft tall wood fences in small town neighborhoods. Seldom did you see a front yard with fence. It was surprising to me to find in my travels in eastern US , many front fences and either no fence in rear, or short wire or wood or metal fences. all neighborhoods here and in the other CA places I've lived, have tall wood fences for division between neighboring yards. Mostly redwood for fences here, with 4x4 in 7 ft tall posts which go 1-2?ft into ground to hold rest of fence.
Velda

[JudyJB]

I suspect it is because yards are a lot smaller in California. In a lot of subdivisions in Michigan, especially the ones with large yards, you are not even allowed to put in a fence. In my son's old neighborhood, one neighbor who had a child who had autism had to get special permission from his homeowners association to put in a fence, and even then could not fence his entire back yard. And in most cities, front yard fences are forbidden.

When my son got married to a Californian in 2000, we had a reception for him in Michigan for his dad's and my relatives. His mother-in-law and her husband, plus my DIL's sister came for the reception. We took them up to the cottage at the tip of the thumb, driving in two cars. Anyway, about halfway through the 3.5 hour drive, mostly through small towns and farmland, my son's mother-in-law shouted out, "I know what's different in Michigan! There aren't any fences!" She had been trying to figure out what was so different, and it finally struck her.

Very few homes and farmhouses in rural or small town Michigan have fences. And I am guessing most rural (small towns in farming communities) subdivisions don't have fences. The house my kids grew up in had no fences. One we had when oldest was a baby in early 1970s was on a corner and had a fence on back and one side, but we had a huge yard--70' x 140. And my Ohio son has a one-acre yard (200' x 200') that backs up to a golf course. Dog is trained to stay in her yard and mostly does, unless squirrel in golf course tree teases her!!

Cottages on Lake Huron had absolutely no fences that I remember. Maybe one or two every mile or so, even though backed up to major highway. But lots were 150 - 300' deep, so homes were a ways from road and protected by trees. We used to visit neighbors in several houses on either side of us by just walking through yards.

[Bethers]

One of the best things about my neighborhood growing up is that while fences were allowed almost none of us had them. As kids we had all the backyards to play in. Then people moved behind us and fenced their yard. Later they were sorry because their kids were kind of fenced in and rarely able to play with the rest of us. Today there are times I like them but raising a family the openness was wonderful for our family. As all of us children grew up, more people started putting in fences and/or privacy bushes/trees. I'm thinking of eventually putting in a small fenced area off my casita entrance. Right now I either have to put Ty on a tether or I put a child gate up with the door open, but then he's stuck inside. I've opted out of a screen door because I want the open view.

[monik7]

I’m a pure California girl. We didn’t have fencing at our home because I grew up in the hills and we had 4 acres. But all my friends who lived down in the valley in tract homes had fences. After graduating from college and wanting to see the world, I became a flight attendant. I had to go to Chicago for training and as we drove from the airport to the training center I was so amazed and couldn’t believe no one had fences. It looked so strange to me. The first of many things I saw and learned were quite different from the little bubble I grew up in.
Sandi

[BarbaraRose]

Not many fences in MN either unless someone has a dog. We just had a white farm fence across the front yard. The neighbor kids and us kids would play in everyones back yard by the lake and cut across the yards to get to the swimming beach. My dad later replaced the white fence with a split rail fence across the front. That was finally taken down when we sold the house.