By Patric Hedlund, Editor, TME

Remembering is serious business. As one sage said last week, the surest way to forget the meaning of an event is to create a memorial. Freezing a moment in marble can freeze our thinking about the meaning of that event and about the impact our actions and priorities today may have on all tomorrows.

Do you remember the Day fire? In 2006, 85% of those who live in these Mountain Communities evacuated as the fire raced toward us. It was the second largest fire in California history. In 2021, the Day fire doesn’t even make the CalFire chart of the 20 largest fires of the last 90 years.

Do you remember the Day fire? In 2006, 85% of those who live in
these Mountain Communities evacuated as the fire raced toward us.
It was the second largest fire in California history. In 2021, the Day fire
doesn’t even make the CalFire chart of the 20 largest fires of the last
90 years. Eight of those largest fires have occurred in the past 13 months!

The impact of climate change is exploding all around us. As we mourned the 20th anniversary of 9/11 this year, we watched accelerating winds slam hurricanes into the east coast—smashing power grids, flooding cities. At the same time, wind-driven firestorms, impossible for firefighters to stop, ravaged our beautiful California, destroying homes, vaporizing communities, burning wildlands and cities.

Meanwhile, the air of the rest of the state is sick with smoke for days, and weeks. Ravaged towns look like what we have seen after terrorism attacks in Kabul, Syria, Iraq, Israel and yes, on 9/11 in New York City. The acceleration of climate change is visible for all. It is taking lives in violent ways. It is an attack upon our country, on our lives. And there is more.

1 In Every 500 Americans Has Died In This Pandemic

Simultaneously, the pandemic is surging again. The numbers are not declining. Even as we turn out with appeals to remember the 2,997 who died on September 11, 2001, how can it become normalized within ourselves that close to 670,000 men, women, boys, girls and babies have already died of covid-19? Out of 330 million Americans, that is one in every 500 of us—gone.

How is it possible in these conditions that we still have individuals declining to wear masks or declining to get vaccinated to protect their own children?

We have become a war zone again, right here at home. But in this war, we have had warning and we have the power to fight back.

Imagine: What if all of us were told we could go back in time to prevent the deaths of those 2,997 people on 9/11? Would we do it?

In this week, on the one day of September 14, 2021, covid-19 killed 2,653 Americans. What will happen tomorrow?

We can help stop those deaths. A shot and a mask are our weapons to halt the daily 9/11-scale tragedy that we can, together, help prevent.

You Are Powerful

These battles are linked. At the same time we limit the spread of covid-19, what if each of us seeks ways to join the fight to slam on the brakes of this runaway catastrophic climate change?

Our homes are now in in the line of fire. Literally.

We all want to protect our lives and homes, and all those beautiful children carrying red, white and blue flags on 9/11.

Photo captions:

Please see the photos and CalFire chart on page 3 this week. And see Bruce Cooley’s story on page 13.

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This is part of the September 17, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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