Reflections on the Northern California Wildfires

I can’t help but think of the phrase the winds of fate when I consider the ongoing Northern California wildfires. A wet winter increased undergrowth on the forest floor after years of drought. Drier conditions and higher temperatures in the summer set the stage for this crisis. The winds orchestrated the final portion of this tragic symphony, and approximately 200,000 acres have burned.

Since I live in San Francisco, I try to imagine the new landscape of charred homes, scorched earth, ash pits, burned and damaged trees and homeless streets that go on for miles. It’s unearthly living on the outskirts of such devastation. Compassionate feelings for the victims and the trees well up inside of me.

It’s humbling to realize that the wood that was used to construct and landscape many of the homes ignited like tinder and fueled a firestorm. The very trees that provide shelter, beauty, shade and emotional wellbeing are no longer there to provide much-needed solace.

The poignant enormity of these environmental events is a reminder to us all that we are no longer living in harmony with Earth’s living systems.

Esplanade by Marlene Sinicki

Forests are a place of refuge for me. I love exploring the geography embedded in the bark and watching the wind blowing the tree limbs. Trees nurture me and envelop me like a home.

In light of all that has happened in the last week, I ask myself where home is? I’m finding more and more it’s within.

Each breath I take has become more precious. I think about how I release CO₂ when I breathe out. The trees absorb the CO₂ and expel oxygen that I, in turn, breathe in. Have we forgotten we are breathing together as one?

Many residents of northern California are suddenly embracing new lives, a new normal.