I’ve been to the forest after the burn.

The seemingly lifeless earth thrives. Below its scarred surface is a renewal in the making. Nature’s perfection seeding new life. Open to the sun and the rains and the life-giving elements of a next generation. If it’s “just nature” then why do we struggle so to understand that we humans also go through a purging, a burning, and a renewal of our own – as hard as it may be?

The wildfires burn and change direction. One day we find ourselves in their path, with no apparent escape. We burn. We fall. We recover. We renew.

Looking forward to new life. Saddened by the scarred earth left behind. It gets better though. It will.

I see those signs of life in the colorful words and time and space shared with people I love and who love so deeply.