The Fire on Monticello Road
on the web at: https://sodacanyonroad.org/forum.php?p=2153
Bill Hocker | Sep 3, 2020Update 9/16/20
Lenore Wilson poem-to-the-editor: Dark Mountain
And without the ads:
Matter yearning to become spirit; white ash under the trees,
skid marks of the Lord’s breath.
So light where are you after all this --
my house in ruins, none of the past to rake, sift
none of it.
I raised my children here, young mother I was
all trial and error.
Dark mountain now and in the quiet hour
of dusk we left
slept next to the corral
in the sedan loaded with quilts,
bags of photos, memorabilia,
under the three hundred year old oak
that had watched the cattle
for a century
come and go,
and the cowboy that day of the fire
found every cow and calf
even the pair that huddled in the creek bed
as we had huddled in our seats, tried
to sleep
as the flames came nearer
and the next day that giant tree fell
right there after our departure.
Oh oil sheen black the pastures
where tar weed grew indelibly
each August, the golden cloth of it….
Raw-boned god,
you’ve traumatized your daughter--
wasn’t it enough
the friends I lost to suicide,
to cancer?
Do you listen, you there hardened
like the day moon,
twisted beauty of the madrone, the toyon,
short fuse of manzanita?
Leonore Wilson
Former Napa County Poet Laureate
skid marks of the Lord’s breath.
So light where are you after all this --
my house in ruins, none of the past to rake, sift
none of it.
I raised my children here, young mother I was
all trial and error.
Dark mountain now and in the quiet hour
of dusk we left
slept next to the corral
in the sedan loaded with quilts,
bags of photos, memorabilia,
under the three hundred year old oak
that had watched the cattle
for a century
come and go,
and the cowboy that day of the fire
found every cow and calf
even the pair that huddled in the creek bed
as we had huddled in our seats, tried
to sleep
as the flames came nearer
and the next day that giant tree fell
right there after our departure.
Oh oil sheen black the pastures
where tar weed grew indelibly
each August, the golden cloth of it….
Raw-boned god,
you’ve traumatized your daughter--
wasn’t it enough
the friends I lost to suicide,
to cancer?
Do you listen, you there hardened
like the day moon,
twisted beauty of the madrone, the toyon,
short fuse of manzanita?
Leonore Wilson
Former Napa County Poet Laureate
Update 9/12/20
The Economist 9/12/20: Wildfires will be more common in a warming world
The Economist gives a shoutout to the fire preparedness of CIrcle Oaks (with a mention of Larry Carr and crew). Unfortunately the article is buried behind a paywall. In the Sept 12-18 2020 print edition the article is titled "Learning to live with it". (more here)
Update 9/3/20
Photo: Hardy Wilson/The Guardian
The Guardian 9/3/20: My family built our dream home in the woods. It was no match for wildfire
8/21/20 The Fire at Circle Oaks
Circle Oaks, the compact rural community of 180 homes often at the forefront of conservation issues in the County, seems to have resisted the siege of the fire. It was very ominious, but as of the afternoon of 8/21/20 things are looking better.
The Final Caltopo map at Circle Oaks is here
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