Rebirth: Everything Happens for a Reason

To paraphrase Dickens, "this is a tale of two canvases..."

All year I've been taking Donna Downey's CANVAS CREATE classes. It's a different canvas and technique each month. I've really enjoyed getting out of my rut and trying new things.

This is the finished piece.
The photo below is where I started.

Donna's May canvas was done on a black canvas. And I tried twice to get the technique to work for me, but never liked the results. After the third try, I decided to give up and used another technique of Donna's to use up the paint in the palette cups. (There's a video on her blog, but I can't find it...)

When I finished this version my thought was....'THIS LOOKS LIKE A FOREST FIRE."

Then the Waldo Canyon fire had me evacuating...UGH!

Coming home again, I stared at that "forest fire" canvas for a long time and kept thinking I should just throw it away.  Then I decided to redo the canvas and create something I liked.

I started with modeling paste.  (Have I told you that I'm addicted to modeling paste now???)

And watercolor pastels, sprays, and Inca Gold.  IN LOTS OF LAYERS.  When I got to this point I didn't know where to go.  In the end I glued a flower bunch on the canvas that pulled all the cool colors together.

"Everything Happens for a Reason".

Yes. I believe that!

Wildfire Relief - Waldo Canyon

If you're interested in helping the victims and firefighters of the Colorado Springs/Waldo Canyon Fire, here's a great way!

Here's the link: WILD FIRE TEES.  All proceeds go to those that lost houses and/or firefighters!

The new "normal"...

So, the Pike's Peak area is slowly returning to a new "normal". The fire is 100% contained thanks to the hard work of 1400+ firefighters (THANK YOU!!). Areas inside the containment area will continue to burn until the first freeze.

I was able to come home from vacation up Hwy 24 (which was closed nearly the entire time) to a home with no damage. In fact, everybody I know has returned to their homes. But the degree of separation between me and somebody who lost their home is ONE. Four families in my Mom's church lost homes. One of my stamping buddies, Joanna, knows 6 families. (Read her blog entry (Joanna / Sitting on Pens and Needles), about her evacuation from fire storm that night.)

The area now moves to rebuilding and restoring.  Neither will happen fast.   Everyday there is a reminder - either driving into or out of Colorado Springs.  The view is forever altered.  Yesterday, I was sitting at a light and a semi truck drove out of the Mountain Shadows burn area carrying 3 burnt out cars...just bare metal.

The following pictures are what I see daily.

Ironically, this Smokey sign is at the parking lot of the Waldo Canyon trail head. Everything around Smokey burned. But the sign was untouched.

A few yards from Smokey is the trail head.  Before the fire, I didn't know there was a rock formation there.

I took this picture this spring because the blooming yucca were so pretty.   This picture is actually the same shot as the rocky outcropping (above) at the Waldo Canyon trail head.  It's sad that those yucca won't bloom again.

I took this picture of the trail head parking lot the day the fire started.  Smoky would be just behind the blue truck on the far left.  The yucca are on the dirt area above the trucks.

The fire didn't burn everything.  Here the trees in the background are still green and untouched.  The trees in the foreground are burnt.  The fire doesn't always take all the needles...it just looks dried out.  The traffic cones mark an area that could be subject to flash flood or mudslide.

Now that the undergrowth is gone, we face a new danger.  That of mudslides and flash floods.  A week after the fire was contained, we had heavy rains.  In the center of this picture is the hole (just under the tree) left by the resulting mudslide.  For scale...my SUV would fit in the hole.

This is Cascade, Colorado. Here you can see that the fire burnt nearly the entire hill side. Amazingly, the firefighters managed to keep all the houses safe in this town.

This photo is the area over Mountain Shadows (were 354 homes were lost).  You can tell the burnt area from the untouched areas.

This is Cascade.  But everywhere you look there are 100's of signs thanking the firemen and first responders for saving what they did.  They really did make heroic efforts to save what they did.  We are all eternally grateful for their hard work.

So, I will return to my regular topics. I have lots of crafty stuff to share with you (it's been a while, huh?).  AND the building permit for the basement should be approved this week.  YEAH!!

OH!!  ONE MORE THING!   Please, please come visit us in the Pike's Peak area.  While I've shown you all the ugly parts, there are still LOTS and LOTS of  BEAUTIFUL views.  There's lots to DO and SEE.  All the major attractions are untouched, with the one exception - the Flying W Ranch.  We still have lots of hiking trials and camping areas available.  We need you!

Denver Post Photos

The Denver Post has posted a photo array of aerial photos taken between June 24 to 27.   They are quite stunning and if you want to look at the whole array you can find it here: http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2012/06/photos-aerial-images-of-the-waldo-canyon-fire-in-colorado-springs/38597/

I pulled this one out because it’s of Woodland Park.  Pointed south down Hwy 24 (if the angle was right you'd be looking directly at Pike's Peak).  Hwy 24 makes a "U" through the middle of Woodland Park (bottom center).  In the lower right you can see the turn off where Hwy 67 (my evacuation route) splits off of Hwy 24.  The photo is taken “over my house” (probably not quite but close).  Follow Hwy 24 to the center of the photo…you can see a LARGE building.  That’s Wal-mart.  Mom’s house is directly across the highway and up the hill two blocks.


UPDATED:
I've added a few more pictures to yesterday's post (my internet connection was very slow last night).

A Few Stressful Days

I know in Cyberland you don't always know where the people you follow live.  So let me tell you that I live in a little town called Woodland Park, Colorado which is 20 minutes up Ute Pass (Hwy 24) from Colorado Springs.  A picturesque little town in the Rocky Mountains and in the shadow of Pike's Peak.

The people in and around Colorado Springs have had a BAD week.  A VERY BAD WEEK.

Saturday my mom and I were in Colorado Springs running errands and getting ready to leave on vacation this week. Just before 1pm, I looked up to the foothills and snapped this picture.  I said to my mom, "Oh, this isn't good."   MAJOR UNDERSTATEMENT.

We finished our errands and went up Ute Pass (Hwy 24).  Half way up the pass is a pull out where people can park their cars and hike Waldo Canyon.  The fire started here and so locally the fire is the Waldo Canyon Fire.  The fire was quickly growing.

By the time I got home the mandatory evacuations had started.  Mostly around the entrance of Ute Pass.  I am "housesitting" for a friend who is out of the country for a few weeks.  Thanks to modern communication she started texting me - was it bad?  Where were the evacuation areas?  Could I go get a few things out of her house?   I got back in the car and headed back to the Springs.   The round trip probably took 3 hours tops.  By the time I was headed back up the pass, the fire had grown.   I snapped this picture going thru Cascade (one of the first communities evacuated).

By Sunday morning Ute Pass (Hwy 24) was closed.  And parts of tiny Woodland Park were under pre-evacuation orders.  Meaning...starting thinking about the what you need to take with you.  My mom's house was in this area.  I drove over, helped her pack up, and took her to my house.  I live across town (3 miles).

The fire continued to grow.  We had very little snow this year; NO rain this spring; and record HIGH temperatures.  "The Perfect Storm"

Fortunately, my mom drove off yesterday for the family reunion.  I'm scheduled to follow by air on Friday.  On both Monday and Tuesday the fire had gotten closer and closer to Woodland Park.  We are separated only by one ridge of mountains.

Yesterday...the unthinkable happened.

I sat in my chair in front of the television (where I've been for the last 5 days) and watched my old neighborhood go up in flames. I lived in that neighborhood for 10years.  I sold my house (now a rental) this spring.  I was thinking about the young couple that bought it.  They are just married.  It's their first house.  The renter I had was moving out this week.  The fire got within 2 blocks of the house.  As far as I know it's still standing.

And I think (so far) all my friends who live in the neighborhood still have houses.  The estimate now is 300 homes burned last night.

I packed my car with my mom's stuff, my friend's stuff, and my stuff.  When you're faced with the need to pick and choose what to take (and it has to fit in your car).  It becomes very evident what is important and what's not.  Would I miss my furniture?  Sure.  Would I pick a lamp over my great-grandparents bible?  Never in a million years.

This morning started out beautifully in Woodland Park.  No smoke.  A light breeze.  Noticeably cooler temps.

And then around noon, I got a text from a friend...ARE YOU LEAVING?   What??  Then on the news: "Woodland Park is under mandatory evacuation".   YIKES!  That will get your blood pumping.  I grabbed the few things I hadn't packed (laptops, purse, cat).  Closed the house.  Told my neighbor I was leaving and headed north on a 3hr drive to Denver and then back to Colorado Springs.  A drive to Colorado Springs usually will take me 20 minutes down Hwy 24. 

The following pictures were taken as I drove north to Denver and then south back to the Springs.  They are not edited (other than to change the file size) and come directly off my iPhone.

My trip north to Denver took me thru the Hayman Fire Burn area.  Ten years ago this month Colorado's biggest wildfire was started by a forest service employee.  It burned 138,000 acres and got within 8 miles of Woodland Park.  As of yesterday the Waldo Canyon fire has burnt 15,000 acres and is within 2.5 miles of Woodland Park.  Ten years later Hayman still looks like the far side of the moon.

Driving south out of Denver. The smoke column makes it's own weather (that's smoke going up, not rain coming down). The mountain to the left of the truck is Pike's Peak.

Driving thru Colorado Springs directly east of last nights losses. Normally, a wild fire smells like a camp fire or your fire place.  This smoke smelled like burnt insulation, wires, melted rubber, etc.

One unhappy Poe.

I am thankful for the following:
1) The 800+ firefighters from Colorado Springs, El Paso/Teller Counties, Colorado, and across the country that have come here to help us.
2) That everybody I know is safe!
3) That I have good friends that said, "Of course we'll take you in!!"
4) That I have saved the few things that are very important to me.
5) And for cyberspace...where I have managed to keep up with my friends/neighbors/coworkers; they have been able to keep up with me; and that I can share my heartbreak for my beautiful city with you.

Pray for us!  I'd still like to get my basement finished this summer...I need a house for that!

Deb & Poe, the evacuees