The Tubbs Fire: Three Years Later
It’s October 9th. As I sit here in the predawn hours, I am compelled to consider the last three years. On October 9th, 2017, I, like thousands of other people in the North Bay, lost everything in the Tubbs Fire. It all happened so fast…
I still occasionally think about something that burned, something irreplaceable. There was that painting I bought in Beijing and the handmade cup and saucer from Kashgar. There were my old cell phones from my time living in Japan. There were my bachelor’s and master’s diplomas. (Sure, I could buy reprints, but they wouldn’t be the originals.) And then there’s everything I saved from my four years of teaching. Letters from students, yearbooks, my old ID cards - they were all inside a leather satchel bag my day gave me the Christmas before I started student teaching in 2010.
And then there was the one thing that survived the flames, the palm-sized piece of the Great Wall of China I picked up off a ruined Ming Dynasty watchtower. It endured four centuries of weather, war, and upheaval. What was one fire? I found it two weeks after the blaze. It just where I had left it, covered by a foot of ash that once were my most treasured books and journals. It’s sitting two feet away from me and displays dark scorch marks over half its surface. I washed it, but the stains are there forever.
It survived but changed. I survived but changed.
Today I am warm, safe, and dry, living in a small but well-loved apartment. I pay for it and everything I need with money I make doing what I love - writing. How wonderful is that?
Two years ago, I wrote that October 9th should become a New Thanksgiving in Sonoma County. It’s particularly hard this year, as right now, hundreds of people in Sonoma and Napa Counties are experiencing pain I know all too well. Still, we must mark this day with reflection, thanks for what was, and happiness for what is. Also, we must make some joy today. There must be some pleasure, no matter how small. This post is my reflection and thanks. My joy will be taking the rest of the day off. And though I cannot spend this October 9th with close family and friends due to COVID, I send my love to them.