“Listen to me, your body
is not a temple. Temples can be destroyed and desecrated. Your body is a
forest—thick canopies of maple trees and sweet scented wildflowers sprouting in
the under wood. You will grow back, over and over, no matter how badly you are
devastated” Beau Taplin
I came across this quote
in my FB feed. It immediately struck me
because I was reminded of an experience I had right before my senior year of
High School.
Yellowstone National Park
was devastated by a fire in 1988. It was the second largest fire that park had
ever seen. I saw the pictures on the news, I was sad for how the forests had
been destroyed. The smoke and ash made its way all the way down to California
where I lived. There were multiple fires
that ended up coming together, burning for months and destroying over 700,000
acres. Lightning strikes started the majority of the fires, only a few were
started by humans. Long story short, at the end of the months of burning, 36%
of the park was destroyed, massive swaths of forest were burned to a crisp and
it looked like it would never ever recover.
I had the
opportunity to go there in the late spring/early summer of 1993. On the long
drive up I worried it would still look the way it did in the pictures. It
wouldn’t be the pretty place I’d always wanted to go when I was little.
My first husband’s uncle
was a ranger there, he’d been working in the park since before the fire and he
showed us his pictures of the destruction. He also told us of how the park looked that
first spring after the fires. A blanket of green, new life, new growth. He explained how good the fire actually was
for the park. The animals were thriving, and overall the entire ecosystem had
needed that fresh start. So much old growth, and deadfall had accumulated,
nothing else could have given it the rebirth it needed.
When I finally drove
around and hiked the trails, I was astounded. It wasn’t destroyed, it wasn’t
ruined. There was a profusion of bright spring flowers in the meadows. The forest
walks revealed fresh clean growth. Masses and masses of mushrooms and clear
forest paths. There were tender shoots for the animals to feed on. There were still spots that were scarred,
trees that had been burned beyond repair.
Some trees had scorch marks, but were thriving. Overall, the park had not only recovered, it
thrived and the new growth and the scars combined to create a place so amazingly
beautiful it left me in breathless wonder at times.
I connected with that
quote this morning because, well, right now I’m either still smoldering in the
ruins of devastation or actively on fire. My life has had several forest fires. I’d say
my life has completely blown up at least 3 times to the point where I didn’t
think recovery was even possible.
I’m not saying that’s
where I am now, I’m just reflecting. When examining the destruction of a few of
my really big fires I can also see the beauty in the aftermath. The changes,
the new growth. The opportunities for new wildflowers to bloom, or new trees to
take root.
Oh, I can see the giant
oaks and maples that bear the scars of my fires. I will always be able to point
to spots where the lightning struck and started it all. But hopefully, someday it will all combine
into a beautiful tableau that I can look at with wonder and be amazed that
something so beautiful could have grown out of such destruction.
