After the Storms...Those Skies!!!

 

These days a good old fashioned Spring thunderstorm storm in Colorado, has turned into a weather event. Alarms going off, flash flood warnings and watches...all from the gi-nomous burn scars from the Waldo Canyon of 2012 fire, mentioned in the previous post, and the Black Forrest fire of last year. The mountain scar no longer retains water and as a result all the 'normal' flow of water which was soaked into the mountain, now runs down the mountain, bringing with it anything in its path. Mitigating has been worked on all year to help curb the flooding, but it has only been a year and there is still more work to do. We took a long afternoon drive yesterday, as the skies were in 'after the storm mode'! Everywhere, every glance, every turn of the head was another gorgeous scene of cloud formations, dark threatening skies, big big landscapes, as far as the eye could see. And, yes, the cows were lying down, as it did thunder and lightning later that evening...torrential. I took 33 pictures, deleted a few, did some editing on others. These were all taken within 1 hour in the late afternoon north of Colorado Springs!

The Burn Scar has a Heart!

It snowed earlier in the week and it is the first time since the wild fires in Waldo Canyon last June, that the burn scar was really covered in snow...well, at least w/in my sight. The scar is the color of charcoal...very very dark. Looking north, it goes on and on for miles. The contrast of the rolling hills, the canyon and mountains which were burnt, and the fresh fallen snow, is simply black and white. I literally had to pull over while driving to take some pics because it was so beautiful. Little did I know, until I came home, looked on the camera, downloaded the pics to my computer did I see what to me, was clearly a heart! Nobody created this, it just 'happened', and my oh my what an inspiration. The canyon lost so much, families lost everything, and a couple, even their lives. A clear sign, if you will, as families are rebuilding their homes and their lives, that there is love up there on Waldo Canyon...awesome, absolutely awesome!!!

' Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy.' Psalm 98:8

Now We Have an Epic Fire....

Waldo Canyon started burning on Saturday, around noon. Right now, there are 15,342 acres burning. 32,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Yesterday around 4PM, the worst case scenario occurred. There was a thunderstorm on the other side of the canyon which contained 65 mile per hour winds and literally pushed the fire over the ridge and into the Northwest part of Colorado Springs, which is residential. As of this hour many many homes have been lost. Most thankfully, there have been no injuries!! We are about 20 miles away, a bit north and east and we are in a high spot. The pictures posted here were when this virtual explosion occurred. It was within that hour when we began to think about really preparing to evacuate. I received a recorded phone call from Medtronic, the supplier of Edward's diabetic equipment 'reminding' him of what to bring in case of evacuation. A shudder ran down our spines at that moment.

These pictures were taken from outside my front door, and down the street at around the 4 o'clock hour. One of our neighbors brought out a very powerful pair of binoculars which he set up on a tripod so we could see what was happening on the Ridge. We saw the houses burning well into the night....clearly. This is a historically challenging fire, where all agencies and jurisdictions are working in unison. Please be assured that we are okay. The information is non-stop and we will heed all warnings. Again, we are 20 miles away. We would ask that you pray for the people of Colorado Springs, for the firefighters, for the newscasters, for  all the very important decision making people who have been extraordinary, and for the weather cooperating. Will most definitely keep you posted.