Pictures from this morning’s walk at Cove Island Park here.
Tag: fire
A list of nice sounds
…wind blowing through long grass…summer rain falling on tin roof…baby belly laughing…waves lapping shore line…
Notes
- Inspired by: Sound of Metal is a 2019 American drama film. It tells the story of a hard rock drummer who loses his hearing. Find it on Amazon Prime here.
- Image source: Your Eyes Blaze Out
House on Fire
Photo: Wildlife rescuer Simon Adamczyk carries a koala out of a burning forest to safety on Kangaroo Island, southwest of Adelaide, Australia, on January 7, 2020. Photograph by David Mariuz.
The Atlantic: Animals Rescued From Australia’s Bushfires. January 9, 2020:
“The horrific wildfires that have been burning across Australia for months now have taken a severe toll on the animals that called the scorched lands home. Estimates of the number of animals killed by the fires range from hundreds of millions to more than 1 billion. Volunteers and crews from Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service have been doing what they can to help some of the kangaroos, koalas, lizards, and birds that can be rescued and treated. Ranchers and pet owners have been working to keep the animals in their care secure when possible, but many farm animals have been killed as well. As much as one-third of Australia’s Kangaroo Island has burned so far, with wildlife experts fearing that more than half of the island’s 50,000 koalas have been killed.”
No. Nightmare…
Photo: Marcus Yam, Ventura, California Wildfires (December 5, 2017). His statement: “This is a recurring scene in my dreams.”
Wow, I am sorry
Death comes with raising cattle: coyotes, blizzards and the inevitable trip to the slaughterhouse and dinner plate. But after 30 years of ranching, Mark and Mary Kaltenbach were not ready for what met them after a wildfire charred their land and more than one million acres of rain-starved range this month.
Dozens of their Angus cows lay dead on the blackened ground, hooves jutting in the air. Others staggered around like broken toys, unable to see or breathe, their black fur and dark eyes burned, plastic identification tags melted to their ears. Young calves lay dying.
Ranching families across this countryside are now facing an existential threat to a way of life that has sustained them since homesteading days: years of cleanup and crippling losses after wind-driven wildfires across Kansas, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle killed seven people and devoured homes, miles of fences and as much as 80 percent of some families’ cattle herds.
But for many, the first job after the fire passed was loading a rifle.
“You think you’re done,” he said, “and the next day you got to go shoot more.”
For decades and generations, ranching has defined people’s days. Mr. Kaltenbach would wake up at 4:30 a.m. without an alarm clock…“It’s our life,” Mrs. Kaltenbach, 57, said. “We lost our routine.”
“We did what had to be done,” Mr. Kaltenbach, 69, said. “They’re gentle. They know us. We know them. You just thought, ‘Wow, I am sorry.’”
~ Jack Healy, Burying Their Cattle, Ranchers Call Wildfires ‘Our Hurricane Katerina’
Notes:
- Thank you Susan for sharing NY Times story (March 20, 2017)
- Photo: Marji Beach with Douglas Gets Hugged (via Lit Verve)