Coiling

Throughout the west, forests, rangeland is burning. Scattering of ash on my car this morning. Air quality alert. A storm this afternoon, loud thunder, brief burst of rain. And probably more fires from lightning strikes. The interagency fire center lists 38 fires currently burning in the west. 10 are in Idaho.

But this is not unusual for summers here. Cheat grass on range land provides extra fuel. Heat waves and lack of rain dry out the forests.

Last night I dreamed of Paris and cats. Today I networked computers, processed paperwork, answered phones. Tonight we walked at 9:30. It was still 92 degrees. We petted friendly cats lolling about on the sidewalks, watched the dusty orange sky grow dark. Coiling into night.

Dendrochronology: the study of tree rings. Scientists can reconstruct what the climate was in the past; cycles of wet and dry years, frequency of fires, evidence of environmental changes.
Perhaps humans are more similar to trees than we think—what stories are in the marks, wrinkles, scars on our skin? What tree rings reside in our souls?

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The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.
~ Welsh proverb