After the Fire

As I drove home late yesterday afternoon, I scanned the horizon for signs of smoke from the forest fire.  None!  The sky was remarkably clear…blue, with giant cumulous clouds rising above the Sierra Nevadas.

A few cars passed me coming down the mountain.  From this I decided that, indeed, the road was open and I could get home.  Overall, there was precious little traffic, as if life had come to a standstill.  In the morning there had been fire response vehicles coming and going in a steady stream.

As I reached the fire area, the stillness of the scene gripped me.  The fire as an “event” was over.  The danger had passed.  A few trucks remained up on the road, signaling the continued presence of some firefighters…not many, not like the legions that had been there in the past twenty-four hours.

Long rays of sun shone on a CDF truck parked at the edge of the road, just above the burned canyon.  Beside one of the trucks was a line of blue ice chests.  The scene was reminiscent of a picnic.  Some picnic!  I stopped to take a few pictures. 

A silver-haired man in fire gear was walking in my direction showing signs of a long, hard, hot day.  I asked if I could take his picture.  He graciously accommodated, but suggested that I should take pictures of the REAL firefighters who were coming off the hill behind me. 

I turned in time to see sun reflecting off the hats of a string of fire fighters who were coming in for a bite of food.  They were so young!  Two stopped to talk, assuring me that next year the hill would be greener than ever.  Here they were, smiling, fresh and confident.  Their very presence seemed to bless this scorched turf with hope.  It blessed me!

I drove on…a little more slowly than usual…glorying in the light and shadows of the trees, the smell of sycamores by the creek, the majesty of the mountains in front of me.  It was all still here!  The old California Hot Springs building came into view as I rounded the bend.  It was like I hadn’t REALLY seen it before…or at least I was experiencing it through a new grid of reality.  I stopped and took one more picture to commemorate the day and to thank God that so little was lost.