10 Tips for Moving On: A Wildfire Survival Story

There is no question that our attitudes and perceptions of life events have impact upon our health and well-being. There are times in life, from which there is no escape from stress. How we heal from stress is paramount to our immune system, cardiovascular system, as well as our mental health. So here’s our story:

For the past 18 years we have greatly enjoyed living in our home in beautiful Sunshine Canyon, in the foothills above Boulder, Colorado. It has been our quiet haven and sanctuary surrounded by hundreds of majestic pine trees. The start of Labor Day of 2010 found us in our pajamas, talking with friends on the phone, reading the paper, lounging into a lazy Monday, which held no commitments or obligations. Feeling like a couple of kids playing hooky, the day stretched out before us with the goal of mastering the art of doing nothing. And then everything changed, and very quickly.

About noon, we spoke with our neighbor Betty, who had heard from the fire marshal’s wife that there was a huge wild fire raging up the backside of Bald Mountain and headed right for our home. We had to get out now! We had about twenty minutes to grab what seemed to be the most important: each other, dog, cat, computers, a few old family photos, a suit case into which was thrown a couple of t-shirts, sweat pants and some toiletries. By the time we got into our cars, the smell of fire was thick, ash was falling from the sky, and a dark haze of smoke blocked the sun.

Our hearts raced as we drove down Sunshine Canyon to a checkpoint that had already been set up by the county. They were counting residents, making sure that everyone was out, that there were no animals left in homes that would need rescuing. By the time we got through the check point our friend, Jennifer called the cell phone telling us that she was watching the fire on the news and to please come to her home to stay as long as needed, dog, cat and all.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

jane r.

1:39AM PDT on Oct 22, 2010

Thanks

send a green star

Nuke P.

8:48PM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

great article, thanks for sharing :)

KayL N.

11:53AM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

How sad that sometimes it is only disasters that bring out the best in people. This is an attitude towards life that we should strive to live daily even without a disaster prompting the change.

Shalvah L.

7:12AM PDT on Oct 11, 2010

Thank you for your insight.

KrassiAWAY B.

2:59PM PDT on Oct 10, 2010

Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

Gaby V.

10:58AM PDT on Oct 9, 2010

thanks for the article.

Pat T.

10:04PM PDT on Oct 8, 2010

Healing takes many paths and each of us chooses our own,
pat