Paint it Black

Photo courtesy of Victoria Young

My kids have been talking about it as the anniversary of the Waldo Canyon fire approaches, the possibility of it happening again.  Of course it wouldn't happen in the same place again, because there isn't much fuel in the burn scar.  But, in the Black Forest approximately 8 miles from my house there is.      That's also where the home of the Jones' is, the people who took us in during last years fire live.  And though I offered them a place to stay, I haven't heard from them or about the fate of their home.

It's all so familiar, the smell of smoke, the worry and the depression.  Because it's not just the fire,  it's so many other things that concern me. When I look at my kids I wonder what kind of a world they'll grow up to live in.  We've got the effects of global warming and the fires, hurricanes and tornadoes that go with it.  One in which teenagers have a cyber social life interrupted by the newsflashes of yet another tragic school shooting.  Next year I'm sending my oldest to heroin high school.  I hope he can make it through without succumbing to temptation because he's going to need a doctorate in fast food to get employed in the economy awaiting him when he's done with school.

We're leaving our kids a world that's hot and broken.   And right about now,  I want to paint it black.