Mountain fire.

John Singer Sargent Calendar - Mountain Fire (1903-8)

The Rim Fire is still burning in Yosemite, and containment is expected in the next two weeks. Fires have been a part of my life for my whole life. I grew up in Central California. The Sierras are always burning. It's a part of life, the destruction.

I read over the summer that in other states, people burn their dry grass in their lawns and then the grass grows back better. We don't do that on the West Coast. We have bad air, and we're constantly trying to make it better, ride bikes! get a hybrid! commute! These are important things. These things help our children's asthma not be so bad. It's a mess.

Fire is important. It clears up overgrowth. It gets rid of stuff that's in the way. Now I'm thinking metaphorically, not like the crazy boss lady from 30 Rock who kills all of her employees in a "cleansing fire" (sorry, couldn't find a clip). Anyhoo, sometimes it's good to clean up the overgrowth.

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