Woe the Arapaho
Hello friends! I had the honor and privilege to be Freshly Pressed with Peekaboo Fawn and I thank you all for the sweet comments and emails. I am usually able to answer each and every one of you, and I will soon, but my time at the computer this weekend has been mostly spent watching the fire that is spreading rapidly toward the ranch. The Arapaho Fire started on the evening of June 27th and has doubled in size every day since. I got a call yesterday morning with a pre-evacuation notice. This means we need to be ready and when they say go, we gotta go. Patrick has been fighting the fire that has ravaged homes, livestock, and the gorgeous land we breathe and live off of since Friday. He came home yesterday afternoon after 44 hours straight of fighting fire with little to no sleep.
When he left on Friday afternoon, I stepped on the front porch and saw a plume of smoke rolling up above the hill.
Then about an hour later I went to the top of that hill and saw this:
It’s been so smokey and hazy and I’ve only left the house to feed the horses and dogs. The cattle are all on the Laramie Plains, out of harms way for the time being.
When I went out yesterday morning to observe the haze and get ready for chores, ashes were all over the porch and stuck in cobwebs.
On my way home after delivering prints to a very favorite and happy client (which was the highlight of my weekend!), the air felt cool but the haze of a 75,000 acre (and counting) wildfire was still in the distance. Notice the plume and haze above the mountain tops in the image above.
Patrick went back out last night and who knows when he’ll be back. He is out with many brave and noble men and women and we pray for their safety and their ability to get this thing under control.
We are not evacuated yet but if I disappear from here for a bit, don’t worry, in the words of Arnold: I’ll be back.
*hugs*
Leah
Uprooted Magnolia 
Much, much luck to you… Sending EVERYONE, of the 2- and 4-legged variety, many loving thoughts. ♥
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Reblogged this on Sunnyace Reblog Collections.
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MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS DURING THIS TIME OF TRAILS AND TRIBULATION AND MAY GOD PUT THOSE FIRES TO REST AND BRING THE PEOPLE HOME SAFE OUT OF HARMS WAY. YOUR FRIEND IN FLORIDA
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My thoughts are with you, how horrifying to see the destruction of the fires, pray for the brave firefighters, fear for the wild life and not so wild. In Bastrop County (Texas) last year we had some nasty fires….destroy 1000’s of homes and we sat watching with car packed…just in case. Thank you for sharing your photos and hope your home/cattle/and of course your husband and his fellow fighters come home unscathed.
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I’m hoping all will be ok… Good luck!
Larissa
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Stay safe and let’s hope the fire changes direction and burns itself out. Thanks to Patrick and all of the brave firefighters who are battling blazes all over the West!
Hugs,
Pat
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Hope you don’t have to evacuate and the fire leaves you and all your stock unharmed. Prayers for those who the fire has or is about to touch !!
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Ciao, hope you are all kept out of harms way just in case…..put all pics digi cards act.. in metal boxes and bury! Hopefull it won’t come to that! We are experiencing high temps and l pray for rain here and for you folks. ciao ciao, Lynne
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Don’t worry, see the photo ‘ashes were all over the porch and stuck in cobwebs’ there you see a heart in it.
Good luck.
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I saw the heart too…what a great set of photographs….in spite of the tragedy of the fires…our hearts and well wishes go out to all of you……
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Feeling for and thinking of you all in your area, that would be my worst nightmare having to evacuate because of fire. Keep safe. PS. Is that your second FP? I’m sure that’s how I ‘met’ you. Congratulations! 🙂
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Leah, we’re thinking about you and praying that all of you will be safe. Gary and Kay
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Leah, you, Patrick, and your neighbors across the many miles and acres are in my thoughts and prayers. I am grateful for the brave men and women, like your Patrick, who are risking their lives to save the life of others. The pictures are eerily beautiful.
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Another Great Set of Photos – Congrats on being FP:) Happy Monday!
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I’m following you from Colorado, and sending good thoughts your way for you, your neighbors, Patrick, and everyone involved. Thank you so much for the beautiful photos, I look forward to them every time I open my email.
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We’re praying for your safety and fresh air. Thanx for the “Arnold-ism”.
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I was just in Jackson and Colorado Springs. Praying for all involved in the fires that are burning.
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Praying for you and your family’s safety (as well as everyone else in the area). Congrats on being FP again!
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Oh darn – that’s a terrible thing to happen. I hope everything is under control soon. Beautiful photos as always though!
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leah, I live in Colorado Springs, and have just been through what you are going through. I hope you and your loved ones stay safe, and that they get this fire contained soon. my heart and thoughts go out to you as you watch your beloved land and scenery burn. it is a hard thing to see and experience. also, thank you for your kind words and thoughts for us here last week.
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Wishing you the best of luck – to you and everyone in the area. Hopefully the fire will be contained and won’t cause even more damage. And may your husband and all the brave people fighting the fire come home safely. Your photos are beautiful, as always, but hopefully you won’t be seeing the fire any nearer.
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Glad to hear the cattle are out of harms way. Hope Patrick and the others are successful. Prayers for him and all those fighting the fire.
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Fires in so many places
Some of the prettiest places
I wish I could send you our glorious rains
Nourish your lands
I pray tonight as the nation celebrates
that people forgo Fireworks in these areas so full of dry tinder just waiting to go up.
I still watch as so many just throw cigarettes out windows of cars. Ignorance is not bliss
now but deadly.
Stay Safe and I hope Patrick can come home soon as well as all the others fighting this battle.
Prayers being said for all involved
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Praying for your family and neighbors, as well as others in difficulty right now. Thank you for sharing.
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We just spent the last few days branding in the summer country west of the Laramie Peak area. I couldn’t believe the smokey haze. This is turning out to be a very intense fire season for so many western states- and it is only July. I posted some comments on my blog about how this year reminds me of the summer of 1988 when so much of the Yellowstone country burned.
I’ll be posting some pics of the haze from our side as we traveled to the summer range. It was so thick and had such a definite edge to it, that I thought a grass fire had started on this side.
On a happier note, yesterday afternoon I spoke with my sister who was just a few miles outside the Waldo Canyon fire west of Colorado springs. It was raining hard and had been for two hours. That’s what we need up here.
Stay safe.
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Leah, I’m keeping you and yours in my thoughts and prayers. These fires are just terrible…I’ve watched some video footage on CNN and other news sites. I hope this finds you all safe from the path of the fires. From where I am in California it looks like the whole west is aflame. God bless and watch over you and Patrick and all the brave people who are fighting against such an awesome force. May you all be safe.
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Leah, My thoughts and prayers are with you and your fellow ranch members. Stay Safe!
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stunning work, Leah! quite the eye you have. i look forward to following you – especially since you are my neighbour! 🙂
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Thanks Audrey!
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Reblogged this on Nikki Reese Pad.
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[…] shared. This was back in 2012 during a hot and very dry summer. It was actually the summer of the Arapahoe Fire. We were still living on the ranch in the hills and we had our own water truck for fighting […]
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