Dream of struggling in three rivers: Continue reading “ugly necessity” »
sustain
Those of us who struggle with emotions understand how difficult it is to endure unwanted feelings. Continue reading “sustain” »
managing fear
I woke up at 3 a.m. wracked in floating fear. This is not normal behavior, so I practiced using tools to get out of fear, and managed to go back to sleep. Continue reading “managing fear” »
choose a caliber
November is National Novel Writing month. NANOWRIMO is a non-porfit inspirational site. If you go for the challenge, you enroll and keep track of your word count, with number 50K as a novel completion word count. Continue reading “choose a caliber” »
ego-ick
I didn’t know what an ego was for a very long time, and there are two ordinary definitions, one concerns self-esteem and the other is a psychological term between conscious and unconscious mind responsible for our identity. Continue reading “ego-ick” »
go bigger
The indoor pool where I swim has regulars who attend and work out at the same time that I swim. Since I’ve been swimming there for over thirty years, people come and go. Continue reading “go bigger” »
reconciliation
My son told me to watch the film Dakota 38 and I’d never heard about it. In case you haven’t heard of it either, the film documents the fulfillment of Dakota Sioux Native Jim Miller’s dream. Jim tried to deny his dream because of its power. Continue reading “reconciliation” »
remains
I called my husband from HWY 101 and told him I couldn’t see much of Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park fire damage. He reminded me that a freeway is like ‘a river,’ so we only see the ‘banks’ when we drive. Continue reading “remains” »
sound therapy
‘Sound healing’ is a practical type of therapy with information available to us online. Years ago, I attended a workshop, and I believe it helped me heal some deeply painful emotions. Continue reading “sound therapy” »
living through fire
Yes, the Coffey Park fire, known as the Tubbs Fire continues burning after a week, and is half-way contained. My brother-in–law and his wife survived the fire because a neighbor called, giving them ten minutes. Evacuating their neighborhood subdivision took over an hour, and another hour to get to a two-lane road headed west. There were so many cars and only one road. Trees were smashing around them, and blocking other exits. There was no emergency infrastructure. They spent the rest of the night in a parking lot miles away, glad to be alive.
“It’s purification,” he told me on the phone two days ago, the first time we talked. It’s all gone, and he’s well aware his life is forever changed. Starting over as a senior…..
I was impressed by his positive attitude, grateful to his neighbor for calling to tell him to evacuate. If he hadn’t called, it would have been too late to leave. Thank you for caring enough to save lives!
Having been evacuated before, I understand ‘get out,’ and leaving stuff, when it comes to life and death. No question, lives matter more. Fear mixes with smoke. There nothing to describe racing away from home with the possibility your home will never be there again. What’s in the unknown?
My husband and I didn’t lose everything in the Butte Fire two years ago. However, it doesn’t take long to forget how lucky we are to survive a horrific fire like that. A second fire in West Point occurred three days ago, burning 250 acres in the downtown area. Four homes were lost. CALFIRE notified with a ‘robocall,’ if you signed up for notification. Too bad for you if you didn’t sign up. It happened really fast. The firefighters won that time.
If the wind hadn’t changed direction, we’d be toast for sure. We were spared. So lucky, again. Deja Vu.
What can we do to help? A friend of mine and her friend took positive action, and started californiafirehelp.com. Artists and designers are donating items and 100% of the proceeds got to help California fire victims.
Rebuilding efforts will take years, so thousands of people are reconsidering their life priorities. Do they want to return to a neighborhood after fire’s toxic waste is removed? Cleanup’s a major job. Meanwhile changes won’t happen overnight. Fire is everlasting.
My home stands today, my brother in-laws does not. We will never know why. Random winds change so many lives. California still burns, and we learn to cope.