Rebirth

It has been a challenging task to write about and document the events of the firestorm which tore through our county in October. It has been even more difficult to write about its aftermath. First came the utter exhaustion. For a couple of weeks it seemed to take all my energy just to get out of bed in the morning. Then the tears which came, unbidden, at the oddest moments...reading the paper, sharing a story with a total stranger, driving through scenes of warlike destruction...jagged bits of charred metal, trees blasted apart by the heat and force of the flames, lone chimneys and charred cars serving as the only reminders that people had once lived there. 

Now, little by little, it is possible to see signs of renewal amidst all the destruction. And there are stories of  generosity, caring and creativity which transcend all the dreadful greed and meanness coming out of Washington. A man who owns a wrecking yard is crushing and removing all the burned cars on flatbed trucks at no cost to their owners., and foundations and debris are being cleared. A new section of the county dump had to be opened to accommodate the loads of dump trucks lined up for miles. It is still difficult to see and we still grow silent when we have to drive through these areas, but the sight of activity is encouraging.

There continue to be benefits, sales, fund raisers and ongoing volunteer efforts. A disaster of this scale has brought everyone together in ways both surprising and gratifying. I no longer feel like a newcomer to this town. I can't help comparing it to the disaster that was our presidential election and all the careful conversation about how we had failed to listen to and understand those less fortunate. This disaster struck rich and poor alike. The fortunate and the less fortunate suffered.together. And we all seem to be coming together to help each other as best we can. 

Most encouraging is getting outside into nature. The blackened hillsides have turned green practically overnight. People are being told not to cut down trees for a year, even if they look dead, because there is a good chance that many of them will survive. Some of them, like the knob cone pine actually require fire to burn the undergrowth and release the seeds from their cones. In the spring, we are told we will have an unexpected gift from the fire. Fire poppies, which require wildfire to germinate, will bloom profusely. Non-native grasses that suppress the growth of the native wildflowers have been burned off, clearing the way for a lush green spring full of wildflowers. 

In a county where so many people are connected to the land, the recovery might go more quickly than it first seemed.