This prompt today comes at a time when I have spent the last 24 hours in a state of nervousness. I live in Southeast Georgia, Brantley County. We are living in the midst of a growing wildfire epidemic. It has consumed over 3,500 acres and has taken about 50 homes from the people in my county. I am home today because I am nervous, afraid to leave my dogs and go to work.
This is why… Yesterday I got up to a smoky yard and road. Yet I saw nothing bad, because of the drought we have had several pop-up fires from people burning piles and other things. We are in a severe drought. That makes me nervous too, the drought. My pond is now a puddle, about 8 ft deep, the grass that is usually green and needing mowing is brown and not growing. The swamp on my road is a collection of puddles, the beavers no longer in residence. The dirt road is dry as dust and looks like a fire itself when a car comes through.
BUT yesterday as I got home from Nahunta, I saw plumes of smoke, black and gray, thick in places and growing, but it was on the opposite side of the highway from me. When I got on down my road, I realized it seemed bigger and blacker and moving closer… After being home about 30 minutes I got a call from a neighbor, asking how I was, what I was doing, did I know… Know what? That the fire had jumped the highway and was encroaching on my back property line. Pack what is important, he said, be ready to evacuate.
Nervous, anxious, and in shock, I stood on my back porch listening to the fire engines and seeing them through the wood line. I watched as the smoke plume grew, and the battle to fight the fire raged on. Then the wind shifted and the fire turned and ran west, northwest, away from me, running with the strong winds through the woods.
I got another call: it has turned, you should be safe for now but stay prepared and watch. The firefighters, all volunteers out here, came out of the woods and told us the same. Be careful, stay alert. It was a day filled with constant emotion, worry, nervousness, and anxiety, we all watched. Some left, some stayed. Evacuation orders came and went and the fire raged on.
Never have I ever really been so close to a disaster like that. Fire—give me a hurricane any day to this! I am home, watching and prepared today… still nervous and shocked, at the loss surrounding me. In life there are so many things we cannot control, but fire—it has no mercy, no restraint, it eats everything in its way… This is not something I ever really thought about before.
It is something that will be forever in my mind from now on… As I sit here, reflecting on these events, I realize how quickly life can change and how important it is to cherish what we have. The support from neighbors, the bravery of volunteer firefighters, and the sense of community are what carry us through times like these. My nervousness is still here, but so is a newfound respect for the unpredictable power of nature and the resilience of people.
Dirt Road Therapy 
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