Ashes to Ashes

I will read ashes for you, if you ask me. 

I will look on the fire and tell you from the gray lashes 

And out of the red and black tongues and stripes, 

I will tell how fire comes 

And how fire runs far as the sea
.

By Carl Sandburg

Fire all throughout the Southwest--it is burning, eating and consuming every single thing in its way.

from a distance

Residents are looking back at the fire, as they drive away with just clothes and photos.

Dry dry air, heavy and suffocating.  Sun scorching burnt earth, 100 degrees or more. Tinder dry vegetation, ready to burn.

Oh, God!  Please protect the firefighters!  

Oh, God! Bless families whose homes are burned to the ground!

Every summer, I post about wildfires.  In 2014 , we could see the flames from our house. 1994 at a school where I taught, ashes covered playground and swings. That one was called the Witch Creek Fire

Below are photos I took from our house in 2014.

Fires like these will happen until December. Last year, many wineries near Napa were ruined and burned. It took three months to extinguish that fire.

P.S. This was a re-post updated from 2014.

Idyllwild, this time with photos

People always have a spot, one that is not far away, that is special to them. We call it our "go-to" place.  It is a town called Idyllwild. population: around 3,784.

Much could be written about this town, but right now it is most famous for the recent Cranston Fire.

Following the rains of 2017

June 2018

After Cranston Fire at Idyllwild July 2018

We drove through this moonscape on our way to Idyllwild for the afternoon yesterday. This community of 3,874 was busy with an annual music festival. So many visitors were there that we had real difficulty finding a parking place.  Shop owners told us about the courage and dedication of firefighters and how this tight-knit town were ready for such an event.  

If we had not driven through the black and white burned area, we would not have known a fire had nearly taken their town.

It was saved by three or more days of 24 hour firefighters being so brave.  Around the clock of fire retardant drops and water from Lake Hemet kept their town whole.

Arson was the cause, as in other fires in the news.  It is a felony to do such a horrible thing, with serious consequences. We personally feel that an arsonist should spend the rest of his life on the front lines of fighting a wildfire.

We will visit our "go-to" Idyllwild again soon.