6/29/26 7/20/26
I left Canon City to do some errands today (7/20,) and stopped at the same place (Penrose, CO) I had taken the previous photo to get a before and after. The photo on the left was taken the day the fire started, (6/29.) The photo on the right was taken 7/20. The winds have shifted from the east to the west, and the enormous plume of smoke appears smaller. (See June 30 blog if you want to see the short video of the enormous plume the day it started.)
I know there are still areas under evacuation, but the fire fighters have made headway. The blue sky and lack of smoke in the air cheered me up.
As major as the Aspen Acres fire has seemed to my neighbors and me, it is not lost on me it is one of hundreds of fires on the continent at the moment. I propose we put it up for a vote: I’d like to propose we have an ice age instead of global warming. Maybe some genius 10 year old will think of some brilliant idea and save the day. (Of course I’d be fine with it if a brilliant adult did.)
On the up side, according to the meteorologists, we are due for some significant rain soon.
Aside from the fire, life moves forward. I pray a lot. I pray for peace. I pray for world leaders that they may make good decisions. Many lives are in their hands. I pray for children. I pray for the parents of the children. I pray for people who live in this country, and for those who live elsewhere.
I don’t take for granted that nothing is promised to the human race. We are a sum total of the best and brightest of us, and the most reckless of us. I, like most, fall somewhere in the middle. I used to be of the mindset that the highest of humanity would be the ones who carry us forward. I’ve learned as I have gotten older, that isn’t always the case.
It takes time, wisdom and skill to make positive change and retain the good that we have. It can all be undone with one reckless act, much the way a wildfire can be started by one reckless individual even though thousands of people didn’t start a fire that day. They all will suffer the consequences of the one. So, I pray for and give thanks for the many who act responsibly, and I pray for the loose cannon I don’t know, that they may get through each day event free.
One upside of all the modern day uncertainty, it reminds me of what we have. We HAVE this country. We HAVE this world. The earth will carry on in one form or another. The surface can be 10,000 degrees and covered with lava. The earth doesn’t care. So, I, a human, pray that the parameters of the earth remain such that humans continue to thrive also. I don’t mean underground or wearing gas masks and protective suits, but walking the earth, breathing the clean air, drinking the clean water, watching all the other species of this great earth thrive also… with us.
I used to think technological advancement represented the most intelligent people taking us all forward. That is part of it: I appreciate electricity, the internet and my car. I appreciate knowing what NASA has been able to teach us. But as I get older, the most important in my opinion, are large numbers of those who know how to both appreciate the natural world and recognize its vulnerability. If eco systems collapse we will find we are part of one. If vegetables stop growing, so do we. There was a time it seemed vast open land was endless. Now that habitats are shrinking, and we are facing a mass extinction we realize this world is not infinite. It is a sobering realization to face, but then and only then will we collectively go to great lengths to preserve it.