My Home Still Stands: A Case for Compassion (Pt. 6)

The first wildlife we encountered--a wounded buck.

The next awakening arrow of pain shot through my heart when we came upon a wounded buck at one of the burned out home sites. While most of my neighborhood was intact, the neighborhood across the highway from ours wasn't as fortunate. In fact, it was one of the hardest hit.

Slowly rolling through the streets in the low riding sedan of my friend and photographer, Nathan DeHart,  was necessary not only to dodge downed trees, lines, poles and debris, but also because Nathan was  discovering how best to capture the story in pictures. For me, the plodding pace encouraged the extent of the damage to just as slowly sneak into my bones.

{It's June 10, 2017 now as I complete this entry. I've just returned from a concert by pianist Karen Rhoads in the portion of Boggs Forest that rests behind the Cobb Mountain Elementary School. Firestorm, a sonata in three movements, as its name implies, is Karen's response to the Valley Fire.

Karen is the same pianist that performed in Boggs Forest only months before the Valley Fire--it was her first public performance in many years and it was set in the tall conifers near the visitor's center. That morning was perfect as Jim and I took our seats in the folding chairs arranged on the forest floor by the sponsors for for the event, Friends of Boggs Mountain.

Not two seconds after Karen's hands struck the ivory keys of the grand piano the whop whop whopping sounds of a helicopter filled the sound space.

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