When nature calls, you best be paying attention. We have all watched the drama of wildfires unfold on television with the thoughts of empathy and compassion racing through our minds. Let me tell you, it is different when the unfolding drama is witnessed firsthand by opening the front door. It is a testament to humility and insignificance rolled into one horrifying package.
A few things have happened that contribute to the current wildfire disaster is Sierra Vista. Budget cuts that curtailed clearing and controlled burns and the protections of native plant species. The disaster lies in the coupling of two. The lack of clearing has created a literal tinderbox while many of the protected species self perpetuate in part BY FIRE. This has simply been a matter of time in the coming.
And then it comes.
A few things have happened that contribute to the current wildfire disaster is Sierra Vista. Budget cuts that curtailed clearing and controlled burns and the protections of native plant species. The disaster lies in the coupling of two. The lack of clearing has created a literal tinderbox while many of the protected species self perpetuate in part BY FIRE. This has simply been a matter of time in the coming.
And then it comes.
You see the smoke. “Damn, another fire.” They are all the same and little intervention is needed. It gets a little bigger. “Damn, the pool is going to turn green again.” The "usual inconveniences" that accompany fires here in Sierra Vista. The last fire had the potential to be this bad, but aircraft + fire retardant =’d success. This time, it was just bad from the beginning. It made you think, “what if?” as the flames became almost immediately visible. And the fire did what fires do, consume anything combustible in its path. The fire so hot, water evaporated before it could stifle the flames. The air so dry the fire retardant was rendered useless. Quickly it became a matter of nature’s will devouring man’s attempts to control it.
The political agendas came forward. “Super wild fires are now the norm” was quickly announced to justify global warming as the reason for the fires - never mind the precursors. Illegal immigrants started the fire, and those of Native American heritage called for a rain dance. None of which went over very well. Tensions are high because people here in Sierra Vista are threatened. It is not one of those superficial threats; it is the threat of nature – to which there is little defense short of fleeing and leaving that which was once known as your life behind. You fear the unknown of what you will return to – and that is profound. Packed is what can never be replaced and can fit in your car. Nothing more, nothing less. Thinking about it, I am sure Adam grabbed that which is his daughter's, his guns, documents, clothes to hold him over and then items that will fit in his truck thereafter (in that order). It forces you to think in the rudimentary terms of the simplicity of necessity; terms that far too many are uncomfortable with due to the American culture of excess that has overtaken our ability to identify with and accept our own insignificance.
Already this fear of the worst has come to unfortunate fruition for many. Million dollar homes of the rich crested in the mountain side; gone. Unassuming homes spread across the desert floor on four acre lots of those who sought tranquility; gone. Low-income homes tucked closely together on dirt roads; gone. Rich to poor, burned out of house and home by the indiscriminate Mother Nature. Threatened now are not the outlying. The fire threatens the whole of the Sierra Vista. Assuredly, everyone in Sierra Vista now knows someone that has been evacuated, or knows someone who may now be forced to start anew with a vehicle containing a lifetime.
Already this fear of the worst has come to unfortunate fruition for many. Million dollar homes of the rich crested in the mountain side; gone. Unassuming homes spread across the desert floor on four acre lots of those who sought tranquility; gone. Low-income homes tucked closely together on dirt roads; gone. Rich to poor, burned out of house and home by the indiscriminate Mother Nature. Threatened now are not the outlying. The fire threatens the whole of the Sierra Vista. Assuredly, everyone in Sierra Vista now knows someone that has been evacuated, or knows someone who may now be forced to start anew with a vehicle containing a lifetime.
Granted, for me it is a bit easier. I have restarted and rebuilt more times than I care to recall. The military has taught me that I need the air in my lungs, everything after that, I can obtain by pursuing it in the right way. I have taught myself that success is mine for the taking; not the will of another. I have also reeled back my lifestyle to pay for my kid’s college. It is a simplicity that most find mindboggling.
Watching the fire progress, it was easy to decide to not even bother to return home. The fire is going to run its course. Some homes will be spared and some will be found in ruins. It is nature and you cannot best it. Where I live is definitely on the wrong side of town for this to be happening, and the likelihood of fire damage there is now far greater than those not living so close to the mountain. But, it pales in comparison to those already so horribly affected by the fire.
Watching the fire progress, it was easy to decide to not even bother to return home. The fire is going to run its course. Some homes will be spared and some will be found in ruins. It is nature and you cannot best it. Where I live is definitely on the wrong side of town for this to be happening, and the likelihood of fire damage there is now far greater than those not living so close to the mountain. But, it pales in comparison to those already so horribly affected by the fire.
Rachel called me this morning to let me know I was under pre-evacuation orders. She called back to make sure I was okay. I was and I am. I am a control freak about things that I can control and do not really stress too much over that which I cannot. I am cool with my human insignificance and to a degree, expect the Earth host to remind its human parasites who is in charge. This is not my first rodeo.
Hell, this is my second rodeo this year! I have property in TN that flooded. No big deal right? The property was managed and time-shared to hunters and anglers. Flood insurance? Of course! But, what happens when Mother Nature reclaims what is hers. Sure, the structures on the property can easily be replaced, but hunting and fishing there is done for years to come. What’s worse? I was on the verge of selling the property! It was a big deal, and is a big considering a revenue source was lost. It is how nature works, you are allowed to it for granted, and then it washes it away your complacency to remind you who is who. It’s just the way it is, so here in Sierra Vista, fortune is found in perspective. Truth be told, my house is in the line fire; and I know that, but being in the line of fire is better having been through the fire line! There are a whole bunch of people here in Sierra Vista that understand the sunrise and sunset are spaced very far apart. Long days and long nights have new meaning. The uncertainty of tomorrow atones only for today.
Hell, this is my second rodeo this year! I have property in TN that flooded. No big deal right? The property was managed and time-shared to hunters and anglers. Flood insurance? Of course! But, what happens when Mother Nature reclaims what is hers. Sure, the structures on the property can easily be replaced, but hunting and fishing there is done for years to come. What’s worse? I was on the verge of selling the property! It was a big deal, and is a big considering a revenue source was lost. It is how nature works, you are allowed to it for granted, and then it washes it away your complacency to remind you who is who. It’s just the way it is, so here in Sierra Vista, fortune is found in perspective. Truth be told, my house is in the line fire; and I know that, but being in the line of fire is better having been through the fire line! There are a whole bunch of people here in Sierra Vista that understand the sunrise and sunset are spaced very far apart. Long days and long nights have new meaning. The uncertainty of tomorrow atones only for today.
There is this view that would blow your mind! Walking out front of Rachel’s house at night and looking up at the mountains. The fire line making its way unabated in any direction it wishes to travel. The beauty is serene and peaceful. Ironic if anything, but telling in so many ways. You almost feel guilty appreciating it for the beauty it possesses. Often is case though. There was a certain tranquility to the flames. “Was” being the functional word.
As the fire over takes the canyons heading into Sierra Vista, the flames become more ominous. Larger, demonstrating a sense of violent contempt for anything it its path. Fire so hot now that the flames have become a byproduct. Combustible items burst into flames before the fire comes in contact with them. It makes you wonder if the fire is even stoppable. More irony. It is said the fire will burn until monsoons start. To thwart nature, man turns to nature. Yet we insist we are bigger than nature. That we have the power to control our environment and our climate while feebly demonstrating our inability when it is most critical to do so. This is not Star Trek; the parasite does not control the host.
A natural disaster that seems anything but natural has befallen the good people of Sierra Vista. A small town community acting like a small town in crisis. People helping people; all friends with no foes. Unfortunate it is that community is found in crisis of necessity and overlooked as a general condition of humanity. Communities are developed out of the social need for contact, security and support values that have again take root to meet the need of a social whole threatened by the one thing community cannot defend against; nature.
I really hope people are paying attention to what is actually happening.
A natural disaster that seems anything but natural has befallen the good people of Sierra Vista. A small town community acting like a small town in crisis. People helping people; all friends with no foes. Unfortunate it is that community is found in crisis of necessity and overlooked as a general condition of humanity. Communities are developed out of the social need for contact, security and support values that have again take root to meet the need of a social whole threatened by the one thing community cannot defend against; nature.
I really hope people are paying attention to what is actually happening.
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