Sunday, July 3, 2011

Fire Signs

We assign meanings to things, giving ourselves direction when we do, along with indicating where our thoughts and actions are heading.

Huge wildfires throughout the Rocky Mountain region this last year opens a huge window for us to look for omens.

Last year there were several huge fires in Colorado between Boulder and Fort Collins, and now this year, we are seeing huge fires in Arizona and New Mexico.

These wildfires are amazing creatures, jumping and running with the wind, engulfing huge swaths of land. Yet within these huge areas, there are amazing sites, like where there were two houses across the road from each other, and one got burned and one didn't.

Twice in the last year in Boulder, and last week in Santa Fe, I was able to look up at the horizon above the mountains and see only dark clouds, with ashes raining down like gray snowflakes. From behind the dark clouds of smoke, the sunsets were spectacularly colored orange balls, the moon also being colored when you could see it.

After sunset, the skyline would be invisible, except for the flames of the wild fires licking up over the crest lines, nothing but black with orange spilling out of the sky. I imagine that is what a volcano looks like when it is erupting.

Some people say that it is only nature going through her cycles. Some say it is because we need to do more logging in the national forests.

Then, of course, you can find those who love to dwell on catastrophes predicting that this is some kind of sign that we are punished for being such sinners, and that is one of the signs of the end of the world. Of course, some people are always looking for such signs, so of course, they proclaim that they have found them.

Not me, of course. As I write this I am looking forward to going to a party later this evening, enjoying food, beverages, socializing with friends and meeting new people. And since I do not believe in sin, I am sure the party will be fun.

How do the fires make me feel? They stoke my thirst for some big rainstorms. I would love it if we had more of those. Even in normal weather conditions out here, I would like to feel more rainstorms. Firestorms just make me wish for them more.

What do the fires mean? I don't know. What do you think they mean?

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