[Week 24]: Wait and Pray

I never expected my small hometown to get national attention.
Never in this way.
It should still be grouped in with "Colorado Springs" and only the locals know we live in Black Forest.

I close my eyes and still smell the Ponderosa Pines.
Still hear the eerie quiet with a gentle rush of the treetops swaying in the breeze.

I grew up in the forest.
We've always known the fierce threat of fire in the ever-growing drought and dense woods we call home.
Tuesday my parents drove away and nothing will be the same when we return.

I'm incredibly thankful that my parents (and animals) got out safe and that they had a few moments to grab precious possessions. Others were not so lucky, for them my heart aches.

Some have received the call - they are left with black trees and a smoking foundation. Oh how my heart aches I can hardly breathe for those so dear to my heart and for those I don't know - the pain and shock is the same.

My parents and I sit and wait. No word on the house yet, though on all the news coverage their hands always graze over our small stake of the world showing just where the fire ravaged. Confirmation of destruction just hundreds of feet from our driveway and yet we wait. Hopeful? Praying, yes. A miracle? So many small ones. Grasping, thankful, and wishing I could hug those who are breathing the heavy smoke and watching the red flames yell so loud that we don't have control
and never will.

Not all of the photos below are the ones I took this week - but my days have been consumed with searching for information and watching the tragedy unfold so they are very much a piece of my story. My forever unending thanks and gratefulness to the firefighters, national guard, air force response, police force and everyone working 24 hours a day trying to stop this madness. No matter the outcome of our home I will forever be grateful to you. I feel overwhelmed and helpless as I watch from afar and so grateful for twitter, facebook and live streaming when I am thousands of miles from the place that built me.

The past 7 days...

[06.07.2013]

Tried a new recipe from my co-worker: Salmon Cakes...oh my word. We devoured these! 

[06.08.2013]

We were baking and then...we were fighting. 

[06.09.2013]

Spent a beautiful afternoon with this amazing couple - love them! 

[06.10.2013]

Enjoyed another 10 on 10 - you can see my full set here. 

[06.11.2013]

The phone message I won't forget: "There's a fire - is there anything you want from your room? Please call me!" (First Picture) My mom took this right before they evacuated. This is what I will always remember and think of as home. (Second Photo) The above picture is the "center" of our small community. We always joked with guests: "blink and you'll miss it!" For the longest time it was the only stop light. I learned ballet in the log building behind the cop cars, the sign on the right-hand top corner is the banner for my church. The one I grew up in, got married in and hold so dear. Photo Credit: William Townsend

[06.12.2013]

The color of hope. The amazing C-130s dropping slurry with my alma mater now serving as the firefighter home-base. 

Photo Credit unknown, posted on my facebook. 

[06.13.2013]

Another day waiting to hear. So many others facing the fact that they will return to nothing.

 Updates today: 360 homes destroyed, ~38,000 evacuated, 15,700 acres burned, 5% contained.

(First Photo) My sweet co-worker brought these in for me and said, "I figured there would either be sad news or good news and either way there should be doughnuts!" My heart swells with the kindness and support they have shown me as I struggle to watch this from afar. 

(Second Photo) The Black Forest Fire, Photo Credit: Helen H. Richardson (The Denver Post) 

See more photos from The Denver Post here.

{As of 8:00AM this morning 6/14/2013 my mom called with confirmation that our house was saved. I am still in shock, relieved and hopeful. Yet I am heartbroken and lost as I watch friends and people I grew up with and love dearly face a different reality. Please continue praying for those families that still don't know the status or those that have lost their home}