There is a saying around here that the fire that doesn't get you is your friend. This is because every fire consumes the fuel that might otherwise feed the next one. Each night as we get ready for bed, the last thing I do is look at the fire up on Virgin Mesa. It is in a very inaccessible area. I know because I used to head up there before my old polio came back to bite me. I believe where it started is near the floor of a small canyon located inside a larger canyon. You travel at walking speed out there, even if you have an ATV. There is a gorgeous little stream, small and clear enough that you could often see the small trout swimming. There are some interesting Indian artifacts, and other rumored things that I was never able to substantiate.
This fire was caused by lighting. I was glad to hear that, because I have always hoped that anyone willing to work that hard to get access to a place so beautiful would never be so careless as to harm it. The Forest Service is telling us they have it under control, but are letting it burn to consume a lot of brush and trees that might otherwise feed a bigger fire someday. To me, it is, in equal parts, eerie, scary and beautiful. A little like how you feel sitting around a campfire. Man has slowly come to realize that fire is a part of the ecosystem. There are mountain lions up there who consume the deer. Perhaps the heat and ash of the fire has suffocated the trout. It is a finely balanced, fascinating, frightening and beautiful system. This is a picture I took from my deck last night.
http://jemez-photography.smugmug.com/Other/Fire-on-Mesa/Fire-on-Mesa/1056997948_34nrX-XL.jpg
This fire was caused by lighting. I was glad to hear that, because I have always hoped that anyone willing to work that hard to get access to a place so beautiful would never be so careless as to harm it. The Forest Service is telling us they have it under control, but are letting it burn to consume a lot of brush and trees that might otherwise feed a bigger fire someday. To me, it is, in equal parts, eerie, scary and beautiful. A little like how you feel sitting around a campfire. Man has slowly come to realize that fire is a part of the ecosystem. There are mountain lions up there who consume the deer. Perhaps the heat and ash of the fire has suffocated the trout. It is a finely balanced, fascinating, frightening and beautiful system. This is a picture I took from my deck last night.
http://jemez-photography.smugmug.com/Other/Fire-on-Mesa/Fire-on-Mesa/1056997948_34nrX-XL.jpg
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