Fire!!! And what we learned

How could a wildfire 20 miles away come crashing down the canyon with such velocity and send us all scattering to safety within days? What started in Culver, just north of Sisters, spiraled quickly out of control, sending firefighters and first responders no option but to risk their lives in desperate attempts to head off the blazing force. Reinforcements were on their way from destinations near and far, but they couldn’t get to the fire scene fast enough. 

A few days before, our little backyard farm lay peacefully under the dark swirling clouds. The chickens turned a weary eye upward, their clucks becoming silent. A stillness settled on the flock. Something was brewing, and nature was responding. 

Hmmmm, somethings amiss, said our little red hen

The wind picked up in gusts, causing the accumulating smoky air to swirl about. My eyes were stinging, and my throat was dry. I checked the Watch Duty app on my phone. Much to my surprise, I found that my neighborhood was classified as a level one, which meant we should be plan for the possibility of evacuation. 

My daughter, Rose, who is the alchemist for Possum Fox Tallow Skincare, was at the Redmond Farmers Market managing her booth. I whisked around the house gathering important memorabilia like old photo albums, my metal box of treasures, clothes thrown in bags, shoes, toiletries, and so on. 

It wasn’t long before we were moved to level two. That’s when it became real to me, and I flew through the house with a vengeance, packing and sacking whatever I thought we might need. Rose was folding up her booth at the market, packing it all into her van for the 20-minute ride home.

Rose never arrived! We went to level three in just a few minutes. I jumped in the car with two big dogs and a loose cat and backed out like a madwoman. Most of the neighbors were already hooked up to trailers and began leaving in caravan style. The air all around us grew darker and smokier. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry…

Mystified Little Mary Jane…

I met Rose at the farmers' market and followed her to a place to stay for the night. But what about the chickens? I had left them loose in the yard, so at least they had a chance. It wasn’t until the next morning that we were able to return to the deserted neighborhood. We put them in the dog crate, which was on the pickup bed. Sadly, we found only four of the five hens. One of them had obviously become dinner to a predator by the trail of feathers that led through the yard and over the fence to the sagebrush pasture beyond.

We relocated the four surviving hens to a friend’s empty chicken coop. No doubt they were well looked after, and I was relieved to know there would be no more loss of chicken life.

We stayed for a week at our friends’ house in Bend, which was so convenient for all of us. They were packed up and ready to leave for a one-week vacation and could use a dog sitter. With their two dogs and ours, it worked like magic. All four got along very well, and we quickly grew accustomed to walking through a sea of dogs wherever we went.

Whychus Canyon devestated

Our home was reduced from level three to level two five days later. Some of our neighbors had returned home, but we knew that the air was still filled with smoke toxins. Although we longed to be back home, we decided to wait a few more days. When we did, we were so relieved to see that little had changed at our house and those of our neighbors. I parked the car and, after unloading it, walked down to the canyon. I was blown away by the looming devestation spread out before me. Ugly blackness filled the canyon. It would be years before our beautiful canyon was teeming with tall pines and green underbrush. A rush of sadness coursed through me, and my eyes filled with tears. What I had once taken for granted was no more. Everything was changed. But I knew that after the coming winter, when springtime returned, I would go back down to the canyon and see little sprigs of green stirring under the warm sunlight.

In this time of turmoil, when everything around us seemed to be disintegrating before our eyes, we clung tightly to each other. Life demanded much more from us; it reached deep down inside and pulled up courage we didn't know we had, a solid steadfastness, and faith in a God that proved his guiding presence time and again.