Firestorm
Firestorm Fred is most happy when he is travelling an unfamiliar road. I asked him today if there was one place that he would like to see again. He answers that he prefers to see altogether new places. This is no surprise to me but keeps me poised for the unpaved, unfamiliar, and unsettled. Our trips often bring me more profound understanding of the way things work in the world. At the tail end of our canoe reconnaissance trip we drove into Dixie National Forest off of Highway 14. We camped at the edge of a burned forest. It was barren, black, and ominous. Twisted and naked tree branches reach for mercy. Others had snapped and landed pell-mell. Tears of glistening sap bled and sat petrified on tree torsos. Tree bark had soaked up soot, and although the intricate puzzle texture was evident, the bark’s blackness told of the feverish nightmare. The fire had completely obliterated some of the trees not only to the ground but voraciously followed t