Kailash Cluster residents stay after service making further preventive plans. We will need to repeat this kind of meeting in days to come, for today's fire was just a wake-up call..
A Memoir of Ananda's 8/28/04 Fire -- part 3 (continued)
Power is, of course, shut off but we find our gas stove working. We open the refrigerator as little as possible while making supper. Our main concern is hot water for showers Sunday morning.
Even for those not directly fighting a fire, as were several Chandi residents, an experience like this afternnoon's is emotionally draining. It would be easy to collapse for the night. But with so much to be thankful for as a community, who wouldn't want to be at Hansa for the satsang this evening?
The temple is packed. Chants have special meaning, especially "I Have Nothing to Give" with its chorus of "nothing is mine," for that is exactly what we might have had after the fire. We give heartfelt thanks. Outside in the gathering dusk rises a full golden moon. Inside, candles become the only light to see by.
Jyotish and Devi reflect on how often the community and individuals on our path have been blessed by miracles, not merely those today. They also point out some of the ways each of us contributed to the fire effort, no matter how small -- above all how Prakash, as advocate of brush clearing for fire prevention, saved the community even though he often "walked on alone" in his efforts. How fitting that his house was spared when flames were but a few feet away!
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Kailash Cluster residents stay after service making further preventive plans. We will need to repeat this kind of meeting in days to come, for today's fire was just a wake-up call.. |
After the satsang, a large group of us heads down to thank the firefighters in the market area where they're supposed to now be having dinner. The aroma of chicken -- unfamiliar at vegetarian Ananda! -- greets us as we approach. But set-up has only just begun. The trucks with tables and benches are still arriving and being unpacked. It will be an hour before dinner is ready.
Although there are many firefighters around, nearly all of them are the very ones the fire officials have asked us not to talk with, those in orange. This color identifies them as minimum-detention prison inmates, many of whom fight fires each year. "Orange does not mean they're swamis!" Reflecting on their work, I think how appropriate their help is. It's living proof that no matter our past, it's always possible to surmount it. Perhaps in a way, these men in orange are inadvertent swamis.
Disappointed to be unable to thank the firefighters directly, many Villagers head back. Some of us stay anyway and find a few men we can talk with -- those in yellow. Many of those we speak with actually thank us for our help in turn. A fellow Chandite and I speak at some length with one man sitting off to himself, not realizing at first that he is North San Juan's assistant fire chief. He seems touched by our praise. Perhaps he -- and many other firefighters -- receive little.
In time, dinner is served.
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Inmate firefighters, with guards off to the right, have earned a good meal tonight.
Regular and inmate crew often share the same tables. |
Early Sunday morning, the market area takes on idyllic pastoral tones, recalling the farm it once was.
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Crews get their day's orders. Note the H on the old game court. Yesterday it served as a helitack port! |
Meal equipment and tables are dismantled. Slowly the Village returns to normal life. Firefighters, already far fewer than yesterday, will soon be down to a skeleton crew.
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Yellow ribbon still cordons off the helitack port. |
Sunday afternoon, many of us head over to the Expanding Light to see the fire's aftermath. The faint aroma of acrid smoke still hangs in the air. Much mop-up work continues, though most of the firefighters have now left.
As if a large tar pot had overturned in the front meadow, a large black oval has been created by fire embers unexpectedly breaking loose from behind Serenity House and leaping an unbelievable distance. The sparing of Serenity itself is yet another at the top of the list of miracles assocated with this fire.
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Our very own "black hole"? |
Certain parts of the wooded area at Expanding Light are surreal.
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Perhaps Paramhansa Yogananda had pictures like these in mind when he wrote "The Tree of Dreams": Would I be petrified wood? -- from Inner Culture, February, 1940 |
To come across a few remaining crews performing routine clean-up is a welcome sight not only for their work but also because of their contrast to the strange scene.
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PG&E power company cherry-
Scene near the former location of Awareness Cabin, burned down. Describing the scene, Devi commented, "We may have lost Awareness, but we didn't lose Bliss [the neighboring cabin, remarkably unscathed]."
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Another welcome and familiar sight around the Expanding Light is the ever- present, ever-serviceful Yogis in Action (work exchange guests). It's not surprising that even late this Sunday afternoon, here they are doing whatever's needed after the fire on top of their already full schedule of daily housekeeping.
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Desliming the patio and walkways from borate fire retardant goes on even after the firefighters complete the main work. |
So many Ananda members as well as guests have commented over these two days that they feel blessed and honored to be part of these events. What further tribute can I pay? More deeply than ever I feel part of this community because of these hours we shared. I think those of us who've rather envied the "pioneers" of Ananda and all they went through to create it received a precious gift this weekend: the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder, soul to soul, with them in common effort. We are fire-tried.
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Banners were still flying over Expanding Light even as charred rubble was being cleared. |
FIRE-RELATED LINKS
1. Ananda Web site:
2. Nevada Union stories in the first few days following the fire:
8/29/04: "Multiple Weekend Fires on Ridge Seen as Suspicious"
8/30/04: "San Juan Ridge Fire Cause Investigated"
9/2/04: "On Guard -- Ananda Spiritual Group Learned the Hard Way to Be Ready for Fire"
