Her Rebalancing Acts
Good Morning!
It has dawned a sparkling perfect 11 day here in the mountains of San Diego County. We had a wonderful rain this past Sunday/Monday. For those of you who might not know our weather here, it can be, and often is, the land of extremes. Until last Sunday I would venture to say that the official fire seasons was still not over, as we had so little moisture and lots of Santa Ana winds, which are usually hot and dry. This winter they have been cold and dry. However a wonderful soak finally happened and I am quickly reminded of how wonderful it is to be where it actually rains and how happy things are when they get a good, long drink of water. Ah, I so remember Ohio and Pennsylvania!
You also might not remember that this where we had a huge fire in the year 2003, the Cedar Fire which burned nearly 300,000 acres of San Diego County. That was quite an adventure to witness Mother Nature in all her glory. What I have noticed in the three years since the fire is the perfection with which the "recovery" happens. Fire it seems is the renewal, which is to say, that out of every death there is....rebirth, resurrection.
Immediately after the fire it was truly a moonscape here. We dashed about putting all kinds of sand bags, straw wattle, netting, whatever to brace ourselves for the winter rains. But the rains came slowly and sweetly that winter. In fact, it was the first rain that enabled the fire to finally be contained. All winter I noticed acutely that when it rained, just as it was about to be just a wee bit too much, it would stop. Then a day or two of sunshine would ensue, then another gentle rainfall. We had no landslides. Then the surprises: wild peonies poked their heads up where once they had been overshadowed by white sage. The white sage began to show leafing at the burnt stumps. True enough lots of oaks were lost, but also true that many were sick with Sudden Oak Death Syndom (who knows why they were dying) and almost all the pines were infected with a beetle. The forrests were sick and now where it was burnt, new and healthy growth could be seen anew.
The wild flowers that spring were astonishing, many of which I had never seen before. As the year progressed we noticed that the rodents were definitely having a field day. It seemed that anything that lived below ground was flourishing, even exploding. While their predators which had been caught in the fire were scarce and rebuilding. Here again one would think this was a travesty, how sad. But I can tell you that there is a rebalancing that goes on. I even remember learning this in biology in high school. When the food supply is abundant (rodents), the next thing to flouish is the predator. Last night I heard the yip, yip, yip of carousing cayotes, once again on the mend and growing as a community. In the last year I have noticed many more owls flying low at night. And hawks are proliferating as well. Of course we have mountain lions here and once, I suppose, we had wolves. My nighbors have complained that deer are now eating all that they have planted. So life goes on, resurrects....even improves.
The newspapers called it a tragedy. The reports were all about the suffering and devastation. The truth is that many lives have vastly improved since the fires. Properties that were marginal in code and safety have been rebuilt or replaced with new and better. Places that had become dump sites have been cleaned anew. Mother Nature, had a tantrum. She said, "Clean-up Your Room! or I'll do it for you!" Well, she did.
Perhaps we should notice that the Earth, a living organism, will do a giant shrug, a huge belch, a tremendous sneeze in order to clear her sinus, shake off something unhealthy. She does react to imbalance to preserve her own balance. Perhaps we ought to notice from the "small" shrugs...Katrina, Cedar, etc...that she's feeling a bit unblanced and she will....rebalance if we don't do it for ourselves first.
Thanks for reading! k
It has dawned a sparkling perfect 11 day here in the mountains of San Diego County. We had a wonderful rain this past Sunday/Monday. For those of you who might not know our weather here, it can be, and often is, the land of extremes. Until last Sunday I would venture to say that the official fire seasons was still not over, as we had so little moisture and lots of Santa Ana winds, which are usually hot and dry. This winter they have been cold and dry. However a wonderful soak finally happened and I am quickly reminded of how wonderful it is to be where it actually rains and how happy things are when they get a good, long drink of water. Ah, I so remember Ohio and Pennsylvania!
You also might not remember that this where we had a huge fire in the year 2003, the Cedar Fire which burned nearly 300,000 acres of San Diego County. That was quite an adventure to witness Mother Nature in all her glory. What I have noticed in the three years since the fire is the perfection with which the "recovery" happens. Fire it seems is the renewal, which is to say, that out of every death there is....rebirth, resurrection.
Immediately after the fire it was truly a moonscape here. We dashed about putting all kinds of sand bags, straw wattle, netting, whatever to brace ourselves for the winter rains. But the rains came slowly and sweetly that winter. In fact, it was the first rain that enabled the fire to finally be contained. All winter I noticed acutely that when it rained, just as it was about to be just a wee bit too much, it would stop. Then a day or two of sunshine would ensue, then another gentle rainfall. We had no landslides. Then the surprises: wild peonies poked their heads up where once they had been overshadowed by white sage. The white sage began to show leafing at the burnt stumps. True enough lots of oaks were lost, but also true that many were sick with Sudden Oak Death Syndom (who knows why they were dying) and almost all the pines were infected with a beetle. The forrests were sick and now where it was burnt, new and healthy growth could be seen anew.
The wild flowers that spring were astonishing, many of which I had never seen before. As the year progressed we noticed that the rodents were definitely having a field day. It seemed that anything that lived below ground was flourishing, even exploding. While their predators which had been caught in the fire were scarce and rebuilding. Here again one would think this was a travesty, how sad. But I can tell you that there is a rebalancing that goes on. I even remember learning this in biology in high school. When the food supply is abundant (rodents), the next thing to flouish is the predator. Last night I heard the yip, yip, yip of carousing cayotes, once again on the mend and growing as a community. In the last year I have noticed many more owls flying low at night. And hawks are proliferating as well. Of course we have mountain lions here and once, I suppose, we had wolves. My nighbors have complained that deer are now eating all that they have planted. So life goes on, resurrects....even improves.
The newspapers called it a tragedy. The reports were all about the suffering and devastation. The truth is that many lives have vastly improved since the fires. Properties that were marginal in code and safety have been rebuilt or replaced with new and better. Places that had become dump sites have been cleaned anew. Mother Nature, had a tantrum. She said, "Clean-up Your Room! or I'll do it for you!" Well, she did.
Perhaps we should notice that the Earth, a living organism, will do a giant shrug, a huge belch, a tremendous sneeze in order to clear her sinus, shake off something unhealthy. She does react to imbalance to preserve her own balance. Perhaps we ought to notice from the "small" shrugs...Katrina, Cedar, etc...that she's feeling a bit unblanced and she will....rebalance if we don't do it for ourselves first.
Thanks for reading! k
Labels: balance, Cedar Fire, Katrina, Mother Nature, renew
posted by Kath at
10:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home