Musings of an Eclectic Cowboy
July 9, 2008
Wildfires
California is just absolutely burning up with over 300 fires burning. It has gotten hot and dry and the conditions have been just right for these fires to start and to burn out of control. I remember several years back when the area that I live in was a tinderbox and you were afraid to even look up because you expected to see a new fire or even the existing ones getting more out of control. But the thing about wildfires is that not only do the conditions have to be right for the fire to start and to get out of control but there has to be plenty of fuel. If we have been in a drought condition for several years and there is no grass then it is hard for a fire to get out of control. But if we haven’t been in a drought and we have had at least one good year so that the grass is belly deep to a cow and then it turns dry then we have got a problem and if a fire gets started under these conditions then it is hard to control.
It is the same with us. When we have had years of hardship and something bad happens then we tend to handle it pretty well. But if we have had a lot of good years and then something bad happens then it just devastates us. And when something hits us like that then we have a hard time getting things back under control. When times are bad it is just another bump in the road but when times are good it is like we ran off of the end of the world.
Those of us who live in ranch country have a very heavy respect (which actually borders on fear) of fire. We know when the conditions are right for fires to go out of control and we carefully watch what is going on around us. We pay attention not only to our own places but to our neighbors also. We do this because we know that the quicker you can get on a fire the better chance that you have of controlling it and the better the chances are that no one will get hurt.
In life we need to not only watch the conditions of our own lives but also the conditions of those around us. When the conditions are right, a wildfire can hit our lives and devastate us for a long time. But if we are careful and pay attention then the damage can be minimal. With the help of friends, family and Jesus Christ we can get through those devastating times. And once everything is over then eventually life will go on.
In California at some point in time the fires will die out whether by man or by nature. The rains will come again and everything will green back up, houses will be rebuilt and lives restored.
The following is a clip from MBC Nightly News.
Vaya con Dios
The Eclectic Cowboy
Winfield Davenport