On the night, the house was filled with smoke, but it wasn't too scary, I felt safe and confident it would be unlikely to come this way. Still, as a child I lived in a bushfire zone, so my auto pilot went into motion. I packed a light o'night bag, I grabbed our 'important papers' file, and the photo album we haven't scanned yet from grandmas. I made sure I had the hard drive packed, and other necessary items.
Through the evening, my friends called a few times to check if we wanted to go and stay at their place. A lovely gesture. At one stage someone had called me to check on us, and they commented "Australlia's so dry, even our swamps burn!". Sadly, we know the fire was light by youths.
So now, a few weeks on, I'm discovering things I didn't know. The fire engulfed my favourite cycling path. I've been riding this path, almost weekly for more that 10 years. It's usually a lush green forest, filled with frogs, bird life and snakes.
and watching the new green life appear....
And thank you to the firefighters who faught this blaze for three days. Your dedication and skills ensure no house or life was lost.
3 comments:
I am so grateful you are all right, Tamara. Fire is such a frightening thing -- it seems to take no prisoners. You survive it or you don't. I'm very glad this didn't get any closer.
The path is interesting. I'm glad that the bike path remains and it will be interesting to see how it evolves as new life begins.
You are lucky that the fire department was so effective. It's sad that arson was involved in this. Also it's great that you are finding ways to see a benefit in such a near tragedy.
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Fires are scary and I'm glad that it didn't get too close to you. Two years go we had a huge wildfire that burnt down entire neighborhoods in my town. We still haven't recovered fully from it. So sad to hear that it was started by young people. However, I am always amazed how resilient nature is and how quickly it bounces back. In the spring after our fires we had wildflowers we hadn't seen in years because the seed pods need the fire to open and "explode". But - this is only spring for you, so I guess you won't get any big relief from the dryness any time soon. Darn.
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