Rising like a phoenix amid devestation

Here we are finishing up the first half of The Year of our Lord 2026. It seems as though we were just discussing New Year’s resolutions and bingo we are in the last month of the first half of the year. If the second half flies as quickly, this year will just be a footnote in history books before you can hardly turn around. I know everyone has had their flowers out and gardens planted since Mother’s Day the proverbial, “no freezing or frost allowed beyond this date.” Now it is time to hunt up the picking boxes and baskets, buckets, pots and crates used to protect said plants from the occasional hailstorms threat.

It has been a severe drought across the Southwest, with clouds producing lightning without sufficient rainfall, which has been credited with starting many devastating wildfires. Local firefighters joined by state and special firefighting units have performed heroic efforts to save lives, towns and businesses, as well as individual homes, buildings, equipment, livestock and pets.

The agricultural producers and rural communities depending on this agricultural economy are often the hardest hit by the devastation from these wildfires. Often the news bulletin will report that the fire will stay contained mostly over rural areas. This means that populated areas are not in immediate danger from the hungry inferno, but valuable grazing land that ranchers are depending upon, as well as fences, agricultural structures, livestock, wildlife, and valuable crops and cropland are being left behind in a blackened and charred ruin. Small community resources are stretched to and beyond the breaking point as local volunteer fire departments struggle to fight these wildfires around the clock. Thankfully surrounding agencies rush to assist in the battle and the immense appreciation for this collaboration cannot be adequately expressed in words alone.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, ranchers are busy getting animals moved out onto grazing leases and forest service permits for the summer. Some areas have been so hard hit by the drought that ranchers have received the devastating notice that they will not be allowed to turn their livestock out on grazing lands this year due to drought restrictions. There are others who depend on their own pastures or possibly a rented piece for summer pasture and so with the drought conditions the grass is just not there. Possibly it burned in a fire, so hard decisions must be made to find more feed to purchase at an even higher cost or to reduce numbers and sell the livestock you depend on for income. These are the same herds that you have struggled for years to build, improve and keep, often with strong emotional ties to these animals.

 With those thoughts in mind. ride along with me as we look at the toughness of agricultural families and communities as they face the devastation of a wildfire and the rebuilding of their lives thereafter. I dedicate this month’s Shortgrass Philosopher to all the victims of the recent and past wildfires.

Wildfire Phoenix

Souls tied to the land are resilient and tough,

Never in spirit or courage lack.

Descended from American pioneers,

When the going gets tough, the tough fight back.

Like a phoenix rising from the heaps of ash,

These stalwarts of our nation and so much more,

Dig deep with courage, and from the ruin,

Will build back stronger than ever before.

Surviving the horrible conflagration,

The heat, the ash with no breath of air.

Emerging from the smoke of an epic battle,

Begin rebuilding their lives with care.

The mop-up begins while their souls still weep,

Yet no back up can be in their character found.

Never a question about, ‘What do we do now?’,

For their lives and souls are in this ground.

For many their land through generations passed down,

The strength and spirit of those ancestors rise.

Still memories scream out through charred relics,

Broken hearts overflow with tears and cries.

Still, they forge on with blistered hands,

Clinging tight to community and family strong.

For some there is simply nothing left,

No one questions, for no answer is wrong.

But all move on to rebuild a life,

With what little they saved and with loved ones dear.

To know they can and will rise up,

Will rise like a phoenix, that much is clear.