"Given the steady eastward progress of the Wallow Fire and absence of rain in the near future, I have to avoid denial and accept that we likely have a scary 70% chance of our land being burned out. This is NOT to say that I am resigned to such a fate, we will oppose it in every way possible. Nor are we fatalistic about it. As we teach in Anima, the only thing that is hopeless, is the person unwilling or unable to hope."
Jesse Wolf Hardin, from his Blog (6/20)I am delighted to copy below a letter I received from Wolf today. With the Wallow Fire virtually at the doorstep, monsoons began, and the fires seem to be under control at last. The Anima Sanctuary will continue to do it's important work, and Jesse and Family and all the Beings there won't need to face devastation. The First Monsoon came to Tucson as well (I woke up to the sound of thunder at 3:00 a.m.), bringing with it the blessing of extinguishing the Monument fire.
Maybe those prayers to the spirits of the ancient Rain Makers were answered!
"With the subsiding of danger from the Wallow Fire, we’re finally taking a break from preoccupation with the unimaginable and unbearable, and slowly revving back up for the teaching, healing and tending that must continue no matter what else is going on. Fire or not, students still need responses, Kiva’s clients still count on her for help, conference organizing and promotion is still important, the honeysuckle and lamb’s quarters require that we prioritize their watering, writers for Plant Healer have to be reminded of the upcoming issue deadline, and wild seeds of hope need to be planted in the soil of this land we so love. Important, too, is taking the moments needed to personally acknowledge everyone who has given what they can to help keep safe this most special place that we’ve spent since 1986 guarding, restoring and sharing.
The Emergency Fund was spent on the purchase of a high quality Honda fire fighting water pump that pushes water all the way up the mesa to the cabins from the river, hose and pipes, a second storage tank and protective sprinklers for around the cabins... and they also covered the balance of the wages due the hard laboring friends that trimmed, cleared the grounds, installed the water pump, and insisted on taking part trade for their efforts. It would have been difficult or impossible for us to accomplish these things in a timely way without the support, given that much of our work goes out to the world because of a sense of mission and with little or no profit for us.
Even though it’s almost certain the still-burning Wallow Fire won’t be threatening this remote school and botanical refuge any longer, the preparations made for it feel no less wise or even crucial. In the two latest and final Wallow Fire posts on the Anima blog (www.AnimaCenter.org/blog), I mention the warnings of authorities that we need to expect increasing numbers of super hot blazes in this region. Well, in the last few weeks we’ve taken exactly the kinds of precautions the recommend everyone take in wildfire-prone areas... prior to a dangerous event and not during or after the fact. All of this was made possible only because of donations including yours.
We will not be simply storing the pump, however, unused until the next conflagration. Water pumped up for the fire fighting sprinklers, can also be used for wash water and watering plants up here, instead of having to drive a truck and tank up and down the hill whenever the drought keeps the needed rains out. And the pump can also be put to work spraying the banks on either side of the river during long dry spells like the one we’ve been in, giving the native plants a boost when they need it most.
And like my last Anima post explains, the scare we just got also enlivened and revealed the huge amount of connections we have to the community of earth loving friends, students and allies we’ve given our lives to. It feels good, to be shown so clearly the myriad connections that we and this shared mission can depend on. There is something to be said for the principle of detachment, but it is connection and devotion that make possible the miracles of our every day lives."