Heat and Flame
The kids and I continue cowboying here and there... but before it gets too far away, I thought I'd better share the wildfire pics. And yes, a puppy video/update is way overdue, but I need lots of time to do one of those and somehow I never sit down until 10:30 to write!
The call came in from a neighbor who noticed the smoke while stacking hay... In this terrain, it's very difficult to tell exactly where it is. Shortly afterwards another neighbor called... placing it in the same general vicinity.
We set off with the truck and took the back road.
Well, there it is along the ridge, center of the pic... but we can't get there from here.
We drive back around adding at least 6 or 7 miles to our trip... but finally do locate it in our pasture...
Now to make our way to it.
Most firetrucks don't have 4 wheel drive... ours does!
We lumber over rocks and junipers as the "road" we're taking is overgrown, and not made for fast travel!
We spend the next hours on scene... and I help where I can, pulling hoses, pitching cut branches back, passing out water.
Strangely enough, a few years back we were here in the same spot for a different fire...
And in all of this blackness, sat salsify. Untouched and nary a scratch on her little head... pretty much every salsify plant survived the heat and flame.
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July 21, 2010 Wordless Wednesday - "The Big "Un"
July 21, 2009 Mountain Trail
July 21, 2008 No entry.
Tis the season. We have ours out. Sure did some damage. And with your photo it is proof life will go on.
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Scary. I live in So Calif, so am all too aware of fire. Glad you got it under control.
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Glad you were able to quench the fire as quick as possible. Do you wonder why you had a second fire in almost the same spot?
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Lightning does strike twice!
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My daughter wrote a poem in 7th grade about a flower surviving a fire. She now just graduated college but I still keep this poem (among many others.)
"After the Fire"
It is too elated and elaborate,
A gleaming personality, too ecstatic to belong with the lost.
It grins a proud grin, as its surroundings weep.
It reminds me of children playing and laughing, although the green grass has gone.
It is a flower, fresh and new.
It is a flower with more meaning, yet still a flower.
The vivid purples and brilliant whites of the petals melt together.
The long stem seems to resemble the upright posture of a soldier.
The flower so tall, vibrant and colorful amongst the charcoal color debris.
The flower does not understand its meaning, only its luck.
It knows one day soon, its surroundings will be new again.
But still it laughs and waits for the time to arrive, when the forest grows back, after the fire.
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