A Leaf In The Wind

     Many years have gone by since a certain call my mum received after a three hour drive to our nana's house. This call was of dreadful news. It brought to our knowledge that our house was in flames. We stayed the night in a state of shock. We woke to a quiet drive of tears in the morning. When we got there the fire had been put out; the damage had, however, taken it's toll. 
     My parents room was no more, the roof was gone, as was all of the furniture. My room was missing a wall and everything had been destroyed leaving skeletons of what had been the cheerful room of an eight year old girl. My eldest brothers room was thoroughly smoked, though it had no damage from actual flames. My other brother's room was neigh untouched, only mildly smoked. The living room also suffered great damage: all of the furniture was skeletal, and the books upon the shelves, from 3 feet and up, were completely smoked (they mean it when they say 'stop drop and roll'). The kitchen was mostly destroyed, and the dining room was black. 
     We all were safe however, all ten of us who were living there at the time. We also managed to save out seven animals. All together seventeen of us made it out safe and sound. This was the beginning of a new life for us all. None of us have been the same since that terrible summer in 2005.


     On Sunday a vicious wind blew all about the Austin area, I can only assume the same can be said all about Texas. This wind was as strong as any I have ever felt. It assailed everything its path. The winds strong hands tossed leaves and dust all about. It tangle hair and ruffled woman's skirts on their way to church. 
     The wind which tormented the inhabitants of the world did far worse than knock a few trees over or play with a child's hair. This wind spread fire all throughout Austin and the surrounding areas. *One* of these fires has demolished over 34,000 acres of land in the Bastrop area and has claimed the lives of two people.
     No one can understand the grief a fire brings to a family, and the mental ill it leaves in its wake until they have experienced it one on one. Fire consumes everything. It feasts on every substance the world provides it with; and once it is gone, its shadow feasts upon your soul. The fire that incased and razed over 1,000 peoples homes, in just that *one* fire, has changed their lives forever. Some people suffered minimal losses, while others lost everything but the clothes they were wearing. Some were not even capable of saving their pets. 
     These poor deprived people must find a new life for themselves, a new home. I am responsible, as we all are, for sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves all day. We should not look at the small trials we face with scorn and reproach, we should embrace them and learn from them. The venial trails we have cannot begin to compare even to an under-grade of what these poor souls have gone through this past week.


     Our home where we build our foundation, our family, it grows and forms into a sort of tree. At some point the leaves, the members, of the tree will be blown off. The leaves fly through the world on the winds back. They make a new living for themselves. They support their own. Some grow into trees of their own. But they all are transported and changed in the wind. Sometimes dramatically, sometimes acutely. We are all a leaf in the wind, a shadow of the whole.