Solstice Pageant

Faith and hope were restored by the end of the program when all the l-e-e-t-l-e peanuts from the community came skittering out dressed as the fresh "sprouts" of undergrowth popping up from the forest floor after the rampages of the fire. Very sweet!

And, so ends the solstice pageant for another 6 months - tune in again in December!

Solstice Pageant

The poignant climax of the pageant came when all these children dressed in black came out on stilts holding leafless saplings . . . to represent the burned forest. They stood, silently, for what seemed like ten minutes. The charcoal that their faces had been blackened with actually CAME from the forest fire. The whole crowd almost seemed to hold their breath during this display, and there were many teary eyes recalling what had happened just a few weeks before. Even if you weren't a local directly affected by the fire, you could feel the emotion.

Solstice Pageant

A theme had been chosen and the early stages of planning were already in progress for this year's solstice pageant. Then, we were hit by the terrible forest fire that burned thousands of acres and destroyed so many homes. So, the pageant theme, planning, and preparation were changed to "Oh, But the Fire Went Wild!"

Here, an evil dragon represents the fierce fire that swooped and swept hungrily over the land . . . .

8 May 2007

Photo by C. DeSain

These are what the charred remains of our friend's cabin look like. You can see the poured concrete porch supports, a burnt appliance, and the curled sheets from her (fire-retardant!) metal roof. An entire home reduced to 24" of ash.

This fire has been acting very strangely, and it has been throwing fire balls that jump from here to there. This cabin is a perfect example: as you can see from the picture, the trees between the cabin and the lake were untouched while the cabin was obliterated.

For some reason, this particular fire REALLY freaked me out when it started, and I've been trying to analyze that. Tom's made a good point: that I'm probably more bothered now that we live out in the middle of - for some intents - NOWHERE and that wildfires are a REAL threat up here. That's one of the reasons we built a stone house with a zinc roof. Tuesday night, visiting with the friend that lost her cabin and another whose cabin is (as of then) still un-touched, we all did come to the realization and acceptance that we do LIVE IN A FOREST, and - in forests - fires need to happen in order to keep the ecosystem healthy. So, it's a Catch 22.

When expressing my worry, a girlfriend didn't understand - asking, "Isn't it quite far from where you are?" Yes. But, here's the thing: the way this fire's been acting, if the winds were to shift and come directly out of the west, it could - conceivably - be to us in two days. That's reality. And, having such a big fire so early in the season is only a harbinger of what's to come during this drought. Hence the worry.

8 May 2007

Photo by C. DeSain

So, a brief update.

As I'm sure the majority of you know, we (the county) is in the middle of a massive forest fire. It started on Saturday from a campsite campfire, and many property owners are EXTREMELY angry that there wasn't a full burning ban on when the conditions have been so very dangerous ever since the snow melted. With unseasonably high temperatures (in the high 70s) and incredibly gusty winds, the fire had grown to 16,500 acres by Tuesday and burned over 40-some homes and buildings. This morning, Thursday, the fire is up to 22,000 acres, and the fire fighters are having to purposefully set "controlled burns" in the path of the fire so that it has no fuel once it gets there.

One of our dear friends, who we visited with Tuesday night, lost her beautiful cabin / seasonal home in one of the first days of the fire. With the fire moving away (although it has since turned back on itself), she was allowed a police-escort onto her property on Tuesday afternoon. Here you see the stone steps - resting on top of the scorched ground - leading up to her place from the lake. Her allowed visiting time was 1 hour, but the unpredictable winds turned around while she was there, and officials had to re-evacuate everyone out before her time was up.