it's in the high 90s here and very dry. Yesterday afternoon the air was full of smoke. It smelled like my neighbor might be burning wood. Turns out there was a range fire about 40 miles out of town. As of about midnight, 2000 acres, and at least one home, had burned. This morning when Sam and i walked, the air was so bad the particulates were visible. My car is coated with ash; the mountains were not visible (mostly have not been the last two weeks). This afternoon the air is more clear. I have not had an update, but assume that fire is now under control.
This was the second range fire *in this area* in the space of 10 days.
Several days ago there was an article in our paper about the relationship between fire season and global warming. Our regional fire season has increased by almost three months per year. This year, despite good moisture in early Spring, we are still dryer than we were last year (which was bad, the 7th or 8th consequtive drought year).
3 comments:
Looking at life/everything symbolically, perhaps the fire might represent creative energies. When they are flowing freely, all is well. When they are not, things get backed up (drought, perhaps). Then along comes a crisis (range fire) that unleashes the creative energies so quickly that they can contaminate the surroundings. But after the fire dies down, new life appears...slowly but surely. Or so it seems to me.
That is not, however, to diminish the terror that such fires produce in us or the damage that they wrought on the lands they consume. It's simply another window from which to view what is.
hi Pat, thanks for the note, and By the Way!!! Congrats to you on your recent good news.
I find your remarks about fire and spirituality interesting and poetic. All good points. Still there are 7 major fires in a 50 mile radius of Billings, this county alone has sustained half a million in damages in the last four days. People are losing their homes. it's a FEMA emergency now.
Yes, your area truly IS in very real danager and the weather doesn't look like it will do anything but encourage more hot, dry air. A tragedy is still a tragedy, no matter what kind of spiritual twist one can put on it. It takes a lot of time to recover from such devastation and see any sort of blessing in such situations. Time and/or distance...
Glad you're back creating, walking and being at home. And Miss Ella is adorable!
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