Ashes
On our way back from our annual Easter gathering at a cousin's house we drove past the wreckage of the fires. It had been about ten days since the wildfires swept through Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, destroying acreages of national forest and catastrophic property damage. Over 25 individual fires broke out across the valley as result of unusually high winds bringing down transformers, coupled with low spring humidity. Wind gusts were up to 80 miles per hour, making the fires’ spreads swift and unpredictable. My parent’s rural neighborhood, where I was raised, was particularly affected. Thankfully there was no loss of life, but six homes were totally destroyed, all within a mile of my childhood home.
