The Phoenix
THE PHOENIX
For more than ten years, I lived at the top of a timbered mountain, overlooking two blink-your-eye-and-miss-them towns. With a view of Mt. Shasta and beauty as far as the hawk could see, I felt at home. I worked hard and was taught many lessons by the land. Like most of the people in the area, I had built a home made of sweat, blood, hopes and tears, grown livestock and enough vegetables to eat and sell. Finally, I had all those material things I wanted.
I'm not saying life was perfect; far from
it. I lived through many difficult trials during that time, but I found
the beauty surrounding me comforted me greatly. I used to sit on two large
boulders looming over the creek, and fondly called them my "thinking
rocks". No matter what problem plagued me, I could go there and listen to
the rush of the water and enjoy the scent of the pines. By the time I
walked back to the house, things always seemed a lot better.
Then on Aug 19th, 1992, the infamous
Fountain Fire swept through, and before it was over, 65,000 acres had
burned, along with 350 homes. Unbelievably, we later came to know that the
fire was the work of an arsonist, who was never caught...
On that first day, a fire ball exploded above my home. Trees were 'crowning' and going off like bombs. I was forced to flee for my life, leaving house, cars, possessions, and animals to burn.
When the fires had calmed, we tried to heal the pain and rebuild our dreams. Some people could not bear to stay, some could not bear to leave. I was one of the ones who stayed; a good friend, who now is the love of my life, also stayed.
It became a common sight to see new cookie-cutter homes going up where homes with real character had once stood. One day, as I was driving into town, I passed by one of these homes, and found myself slamming on the brakes. The owner had painted it a bright red, purple and gold! I went to the door and knocked because I just had to know what possessed her to do such a thing. She answered the door and smiled at my shocked question. She said, "It is the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Our rebirth!" I never wanted to paint my house those colors but I sure thought about the idea behind it, during many struggles since.
My life has changed since then, for I find
myself in less need of those "thinking rocks". I learned to climb out of
the ashes and I have found my happiness. Sometimes my love and I talk
about the fire, sometimes we can't. However, we have both come to the same
conclusion: We all become who we are by the things we endure. We wind up
where our chosen paths lead us. If it took losing everything to be here
now, with each other, it was a price well worth paying. This is our
treasure and our happiness.
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