Almost all clear

This morning there is no smoke visible from my vantage in Bowie. The back burns are out and the apocalyptic mushroom cloud that has become a fixture in the southern sky is absent. Yesterday we had fifty mile an hour winds all day. I found this stressful as fire likes wind. Over the years of living and working at Diamond Mountain I rarely knew how fast the wind was blowing. I realize now that we had fifty mile an hour winds pretty often during parts of the year. In that condition, working outside becomes difficult and in some cases dangerous. My man Johneo and I have both been blown off ladders while building homes out here. Luckily, I have mad ninja reflexes but only when I'm not trying. And Johneo is just tough. I say that because he hit the ground pretty hard once on his tuckus but got right up with minor complaint. Tough.

The fire fighters are happy with the work they did yesterday. All the fire breaks held and we almost have an all clear. This would be an amazing relief. So many things are on hold because of the threat of possible evacuation. Perhaps I should say "opportunity" instead of "threat". Perhaps not.

It has been interesting watching myself and others here at DMU go through this. We all seemed to vacillate between very agitated and calm. Some have been losing sleep. My stress peaked yesterday to compliment the wind storm. I was having an inner wind storm. Nothing could satisfy me. I did a great yoga and mediation session in the morning. But through out the day I was like a hungry ghost. Unable to find anything to satisfy the agitation. I could not do some things I would have liked to because I had to stay in Bowie in case of evac. I did find myself thinking of all the people around the world who live in fear of coming disaster. I thought of people who live in war zones. I thought of the karma this country is accumulating in regards to the stress and fear our military inflicts on whole populations. Will the drone fly over and blow up my wedding today? It's important, I think, to resist supporting this sort of thing in word and action, to say the least. I digress

For the time being, nothing at DMU has been destroyed and if feels like we will be spared. I cannot, then, say that I can relate to others who have lost property, livelihood, etc. My empathy for them, however, is greater. Is empathy any good without a follow up of action? I only speak for myself here. Living with the wild fire has made my worst mental afflictions more manifest and raised important questions. I haven't even covered the worst of my afflictions that came up over the last few days. They really put on their party cloths and hit the town. Glad you weren't in my mind to see it.

Thank you all for all your prayers and meditations. I know that many people were thinking of us out here at DMU. Face Book made this evident. It is a comfort. If I sit and can relax and think of you, where ever you are, and make an effort to open my heart to your love for us, I imagine I can feel it.