Fire

I tried, but I just can't make light of forest fire. This post is really just to prevent Greg from questioning my commitment and work ethic again. I still can't believe he did that. I'm tellin ya, 2012.

Horrible news about a completely uncontained fire threatening Crooked Creek Ranch. A lot of Young Lifers have great memories there.

Greg also has a great point about the dead trees. Trees in that area have been devastated by the pine beetle. It's a powerful demonstration of Mother Nature at work. Too often our Forest Service tries to have its cake and eat it too: We want as many natural forces to play out as possible in the National Forests, but we also want the forests to always be lush and beautiful. Sometimes these goals are mutually exclusive. Our government does a lot to protect the forests from many of nature's devastating forces. But right now Mother Nature seems to be stepping in and restoring the cyclical nature of forest life. The pine beetle will probably kill billions of trees, leaving dead, dry bark almost waiting to be set ablaze. It will burn, and the forests will be restored--healthier and stronger--over time.

In the meantime, we can only pray that the places and people we love remain safe.

Note: Responder Gal was really disappointed with this post. I'm not exactly sure what she wanted from me. Forest fire is a pretty hot topic. I haven't really done much research on forest fire jokes, but something tells me  the area is completely dry. I mean, any attempt would probably just go up in smoke. Oh man, I'm probably going to burn in hell.