God bless you, Michele, for all you are doing.
The destruction of our beautiful beautiful land is heartbreaking but the fears of so many is staggering as they escape with little or nothing.
Those who could not escape I can barely write about. Their screams are ringing in me if I don't push the sound away. I send healing love and prayers for them to let go of all that freezes them here in this dimension and journey into peace and love instead.
So terribly sad for so many now. But so far my family extended family and friends are OK as far as I know. We are blessed
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9.
The polarity and the massive chasm of political divide in Oregon is as blazing hot and destructive in the hearts and souls of the collective.
Friends, family, and those holding important jobs are allowing their mouths to mispeak falshoods, their eyes to glare distrust and hatred of others and their hands to grasp at any chance to spread with typing and texts hands what are documents and verifiable truths. Their hearts are tight and closed to others as their lungs gasp for air all around the ethers.
The most ardent are the angriest, resistance compromise anf it is on ALL sides. Facebook liberals are spreading hatred and untruth almost as fast as the conservatives. I am dismayed.
We are all in danger of the virus and wildfires, hurricanes, flooding. Climate change is speeding up and Mother Earth is shaking and heated with emotion from all of us.
Everyone is preaching on social media evrn as they seek to shelter or feed or give to others only wanting "their " kind of people to benefit.
Family members are trying and or getting permission to travel into fire ravaged areas to check on their homes, livestock desperately needing more food and water but beibg warned by deputies to always identify themselves by name and address and reason for fear of gun toting neighbors not knowing or recognizing them in different cars as we all wear masks, borrow or make do.
Everywhere people who should be focusing on helping are hindering because of their own personal vendettas or agendas abd the immediate defunding of police in Oregon has now created insurmountable deficits of trained officers in all areas sbd levels when we desperately need more patrols, more emergency responders, more roadblock officers.
Worst of all dominoing scenarios is how we are now destroying ourselves by our own choices.
Major upheavals everywhere.
Oregon fire marshal Jim Walker put on leave amid historic wildfires -
"A source familiar with the situation said Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton had lost confidence and trust in Walker’s ability to manage the historic wildfires. Walker, the source said, had effectively turned over day-to-day management of the fires to his chief deputy, Mariana Ruiz-Temple.
Ruiz-Temple has been appointed the acting fire marshal.
"Mariana is assuming this position as Oregon is in an unprecedented crisis which demands an urgent response,” Hampton, state police superintendent, said in a statement.
“This response and the circumstances necessitated a leadership change. I have the absolute confidence in Mariana to lead OSFM operations through this critical time.
She it tested, trusted and respected – having the rare combination of technical aptitude in field operations and administration."
oregonlive.com
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/09/oregon-fire-marshal-put-on-leave-amid-historic-wildfires.html
@michele my heart breaks at the your horrifying description of the land on fire and the citizens pitted against one another. I pray as a country we realize the only way out of this hellscape is to work together and respect one another and our Earth. I am glad your family is safe and I pray for protection for you & your family. I am also praying for Oregon,Washington, and California and an end to these horrific fires. Praying all of you are kept safe. ?
You are so very right. We have to meet one another on common grounds --i see it as poet Rumi's field.
The constant judgment and separation from love into fear and hatred of others is destroying us from the inside out.
Most people are truly good, decent loving people but politics and lies and manipulation and subterfuge has spread into hearts and souls from all groups on all sides and destroying each of us, our beautiful country, and our democracy as a nation.
We.all need to meet somewhere in the middle but it must start with each of us now.
Oregon is being destroyed by destruction and decisiveness. From anti police to anti people of color to anti religion or perception of none at all or the "wrong kind" of religion to gender to gender change to sexual orientation. My goodness we need to look at each of ourselves first.
10.
We are doing aa well, or even better than most would do. Between my husband and myself, we rose up to be fully present as much as we could as we met/meet emotional, physical and even "never give up" emotional needs by lots of care giving and feelings of neing held up and supported.
We just feed, fill immediate needs (like filling the tank of a car that we synchronisticslly gave to a friend its current owner when he had to call an ambulance on 911just to get to a doctor when he fell and couldn't get up because none of his or hisvkids cars were running.
We washed endless dishes and I did laundry non-stop laundry and kept each other and our dear house and garage guests and menagerie of animals fed, clean, entertained and listened to.
We both became storytellers. Just as i used to help those who were ill or dying by focusing on where we all are now not where we might be tomorrow, we both just shared stories from years past, photos of shared memories, people long gone and those we are contacting now. It lightened and brightened each of us.
Everyone notices positive reconnections being forged. Friends they lost touch with decades ago, people some had previous disagreements with now talking to one other who knew of them and had a phone or texting number and the "really lonely all the time folks " made lots and lots of reconnections.
We tried to socially distance bestbwe could among us as families, but went outside into the surreal nuclear winter air and endless skies --sitting on either side of the opened garage door to take multiple turns each and every day between house family and garage friends and for the two worst non-sleepers at 4 a.m. socially distanced coffee time after 3 before 4. I serve as official hostess ?
Lots abd lots of stories of the challenges and sometimes horrors of our lives moving on and into how we rose above them and look at us as survivors now! Old best of the best accolades and achievements shared without havectov feign humbleness but hey! I actually did that, achieved that, won that award ,or got my photo in the paper for that! Lifts people as I remind them all those versions of ourselves is still us !
My husband said I'll cook and cooked hig breakfasts of pancakes with our own previously frozen spring blueberries or hearty oatmeal with our berries or eggs from our chickens with toast and bacon and our fresh apples, plums or pears on the side.
Then typical sandwich lunches but addings our garden lettuce & tomatoes and cucumber to our sandwiches) and for dinners several big crockpots of homemade stew (our garden potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic cloves) and freshly baked at my insistence (without knowing why yet) double batch of apple crisp (our own trees' apples) and vanilla ice cream i had brought right before fire with my husband saying our freezer is past capacity! more orders of freezer anything! haha I had ordered pickup ice cream "just in case". Good food lifts the spirit and creates gratitude and a big feeling of abundance! And sure hamburgers and bratwurst rolls and simple quick foods too but a lot of homegrown goodies! Several years ago big threads here were on self and land reliance during climate change.
Well didn't anticipate fires and smoke though we did drought! But for now our super gardening paidcoff.
Words cannot describe what this abundance and providing of home cooked family meale did for the "heading into depression" guests. We held each other up really. This is all the good that comes out of challenges. Not the politics and social media ridiculousness. It feeds everything and almost creates infighting and arguing among people. Ugh!
Banding together can be so healing too. One guest hadn't eaten in days, No appetite and was refusing offers from us but ended up eating a full sandwich 2 Oregon craft beers he raved over and 2 servings of stew plus apple crisp and ice cream.
He came to us with 60 cents in his pocket, no bank account and a repossessed home he shared at times with 6 more of his family members (all leaving for other other family members before the fires exploded.
Despondency displaced aas we shared memories and reminded each other how fortunate we each were no matter what, compared to so many.
These are our miracles whether they lose their houses/land or not. And right now in the middle of towns devastated by fires every one of our 35 family members and counting so far still miraculously still has a home.
All amongst many many of us in safe zones as this includes as many as 5 generations per house !
Grateful and blessed. All of us.
@michele-b thank God for you and your husband. The healing, love and care you are providing brings tears to my eyes. I will pray for you that you continue to have strength, heart and stamina to keep going. I believe for every act of kindness and love we give our world heals a bit more. Thank you for what you are doing. Stay safe. ❤️☮️