What is duff, you ask? It’s decaying vegetable matter covering the ground under trees. It’s what burns in a wild fire. It’s especially thick under evergreen trees because those pine needles build up and don’t necessarily get raked up like obvious leaves do.
Insurance companies want those of us who live in California to get rid of our duff. I raked under my trees and hedges today and also last weekend. Duff is spongey under evergreens, and you think it’s just dirt but it’s not, it’s layers of flammable needles mixed with dirt. It looks harmless. It’s not.
My relatives have a house in the Santa Cruz mountains. Five years ago, a wild fire caused by lightning forced them to evacuate for twelve nights. Fortunately for them, I had a beach house an hour away that they could use. I hadn’t left it in pristine condition, so I went down there to move stuff and also for moral support. My elderly mother was with them. My relatives repaired a lot of broken things for me while they worried about losing their home. Some of their friends did, but their house survived.
However, they did lose their insurance company. The reason was their urban wildfire interface status. They live in the woods, surrounded by huge trees and a whole lot of duff, over three decades’ worth.
It’s a process to rake up the duff and haul it away, involving many trips to the dump. For me, I filled up my two green cans, and that’s enough for an old lady this week. I did some last week; I’ll do some next week. We’ve had a cool summer so far, but our fire season could go into November if we don’t get significant rainfall before then. Our mediterranean climate has no rainfall in the summer months and now, into the fall, with climate change.
I’ll bet you didn’t know about duff. Now you do. I learned my lesson. Don’t ask you brother-in-law, “How’s your duff” in mixed company. An explanation ensued and some laughter. Sister rolled her eyes at me.
It sounded too racey, I guess.
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 