Camera phone doesn't pick up reds well, so this doesn't do justice to how *livid* the mountain fire looked as I was heading back, but you get the idea.
So much can change all at once.
I have zero idea what my future will hold.
But we put one foot in front of the other for as long as we can.
And we forgive ourselves when what we *can* manage never seems like enough.
Because of course it never is - but that's also not the point.
Take good care of your hearts in this world of ours on fire. 🕊️
🙏💜 scary ML—please take good care
This is the fourth mountain fire in my vista in the last two weeks! For Christmas and New Year's, there's a tradition of sending up paper lanterns that has a tendency to set something off - and locals being careless with other flames don't help either - but these fires don't get too dangerous; the air and soil still have enough water content that they burn through brush, clear out some of the older trees, but generally die out themselves and renew the soil.
Harder for the critters!
Thank you for explaining, ML—I have a visceral dread bc so many times the fires escalate and destroy 😔
I am relieved you are not at imminent risk from that particular danger 🙏
I understand that visceral dread! I was rapt the first few times fires happened on the mountains across from my balcony.
But I'm thankful I live in a place that consistently experiences a sharp temperature drop at night. That makes a difference too. There are drier seasons here, when morning cloud mist needs to finish off a fire that burned all night, or firefighters need to engage with it a bit - but we're not in one of those waves just yet. This'll die out by dawn.
@MLClark @Minholkin
If I never see a 25,000-acre fire just across the river here, it will be OK with me.
@MLClark @Minholkin I have always been horrified at the human habit of setting floating things on fire and sending them to wander in the air, or shooting things that shoot fire in all directions around.
Many of the places I have lived had had things like houses, trees, grass, and other flammable things. That's where most humans live. Why would you put fire on that stuff?
We are nothing if not creative when it comes to finding new ways to destroy ourselves!
@MLClark @Minholkin
Wildfires are scary and unpredictable. We have been getting rain, and I am so glad.