The West Coast. A wonderland of nature, waterfalls and mountains. It’s not a static place, and has a natural history and social history that is still changing. At Mt. Adams, the stolen places of indigenous people who gathered near bountiful wetlands for a milenia. In the Willamette National Forest, research stations that proved old growth forests were worth saving. In Silicon Valley, redwood forests that supplied wood housing for a technology revolution. The West Coast has a history with moral and social themes still unfolding.
Now, the timeline of social change is accelerating.
From Paradise, CA to Talent, OR wildfire has pushed its heat through the mountains and hurt people. A smokestack filling the sky with haze is an annual event. Anticipate it, along with the potential to lose your home.
What do the forests think?
Vulnerable, they sit in their mossy cloaks. What do they make of this change? Surely they know from whispering breezes stories of places up and down the coast. They know about succulent filled patios in Los Angeles, to the historic fish market of Pike Place, Washington. Cool breezes of coastal days, when the ocean is wide and cooling.
The trees have networks. Do they whisper, “Closer and closer it comes?”
On days where they dry out more than last year. “A rapid retreat to the North is desirable” they may say conspiratorially.” What is their thought on how heat is stalking the land? First in the drier places like Medford, OR, where the heat stalks along curvy, rolling hills.
Once the heat arrives, then comes the flame.
Helicopters zooming around like giant dragonflies, dropping flame retardant from the sky. Power cut and no electricity. People hover near radios as the fridge grows soggy. Generators run to power the streetlights, sewers and water. Don’t let those stop!
What do the forests think?
The patchwork of life will continue, and we are wise to think of that. Wise to think calmly. Not without haste, but calm is necessary for wisdom. Beware only the burns that creep inside our minds. Do not let fear take over.