03/30/25 1900: Morale levels low

The wildfires near Saluda, NC (Black Cove Complex Fires) started on March the 19th. It’s been over a week, almost ten days.  I evacuated my home on Wednesday the 26th.  And let me just tell you...natural crisis like this can REALLY wear on you over time.

Here’s some things about that.

Living this close to (meaning you’re eating, breathing, existing from within the bowels of this crisis) wildfires that were uncontainable for five days (in spite of an enormous response by fire management teams...who have been busting their asses fighting this thing), with the smoke and the sounds (helicopters overhead, spotting aircraft overhead, emergency vehicle sirens) with the unknowns regarding at any point the wind could shift and now your home is in its path is unnerving. It’s unsettling on levels that can push you right to the edge of panic.  Stress levels are very high...and can wreak havoc on your ability to function and make decisions.

So how does one manage emotion and nerves from within a crisis like this? How does one maintain their composure and not just lose it?

Well...I’ll tell you that my experience has been all over the emotional map. It comes in phases. Some moments you’re on top of it...doing all the things...and the next moment you find yourself desperate for a break from the pressure and stress. The unknowns can become overwhelming.

Talking about it helps to some extent. Reaching out to friends also in similar circumstance to show them support helps too. (The Table Rock Fire and Persimmon Fire was threatening the Cedar Mountain Community where friends were going through much the same pressures as I).

Breathing. And then taking this to next level by going into meditation in order to calm your mind.  Playing quiet, non-excitable music helps (like Native American flute, etc). And writing or journaling.

Things that don’t help. Doom-scrolling on Facebook.  Consuming huge amounts of information regarding the struggle with these fires only makes the impact on your stress levels worse.

Smoke levels come and go...depending upon the time of day, wind direction and your location to the fires. To be inundated by smoke at your home definitely adds to the stress levels. Only solution with that is to find somewhere to go that doesn’t have this smoke level...even if just for a little while.

I have a whole new understanding why “keeping up morale” is a thing. In episode 7 (named “The Breaking Point”) of the miniseries titled “Band of Brothers” Easy Company has at this point in the series experienced an enormous amount of hardships with very little relief. Is a typical experience in a war environment where “morale of the troops” dips to all time lows. Is why chocolate is handed out and cigarettes and so forth...anything to alleviate some of the stress so that everyone can still function.

There’s a scene where Captain Winters is given a “pass” to go to the “rear” in Paris during episode 5 titled “Crossroads.”  Winters experiences a lot of melancholy and loneliness and guilt during this break from the fight.  He gets to live in some calm and take in some conveniences like clean clothes and a hot bath during this reprieve in the “rear.”

I’ve been staying down in South Carolina at a very kind and generous friend’s house since Wednesday the 26th.  (Maybe similar to being given a “pass” to go to the “rear” for a while.)  Yesterday, in an effort to “let it be good” and start to do things that feel a little more normal...I went into a nearby town and visited an adventure outfitter store (as one would do who is an outdoor lover).  While I was walking through that store exploring all the cool outdoorsy gear...a fire truck and an emergency vehicle went by sirens a blaring. I was immediately hit with an intense emotional response...a big stress spike occurred in me...and it surprised me.  

Am I that triggerable right now?  Just by the siren sounds of a passing emergency vehicle?

I know from this experience I’m going to have to remain vigilant and take very precise steps towards purging myself of the enormous amounts of stress-response that lingers in my body from these life-experiences.  Quiet time, meditation, calm, slow down, remembering to stay in the present moment and other morale-increasing activities.

Happy to entertain suggestions as to other ways to lower the levels that our nervous systems have been hit with here in the ever-changing-mountains of Western North Carolina. If you’ve been affected by these fires here feel free to add your practices to maintain balance in the comments.

On that note I took myself on a walk after the rains today.  We’ve all gotten a much needed reprieve today (Sunday) from the intensity of things now that rain has arrived. The air smells more like mountain air is supposed too. Wet and damp again. And the moss looks happier and the wild flowers a little taller tonight.

Currently all of the mandatory evacuation locations in Polk County near Saluda, NC have been removed. There are still some areas that have a “Get Ready” level 1 and a “Get set” level 2 evacuation status so we’re not “out of the woods” just yet...but things have definitely improved!

It’s predicted to rain again tomorrow (Monday) so with this...hopefully things will continue to improve even more.

Many thanks to those of you who have been praying and sending positive vibes this way and to those of you who have given monetary donations to Saluda Fire and Rescue for their hard work over these crazy times.

Stay safe everyone!



Photo Credit: Image by Natalja Beu from Pixabay

03/27/25 1915 Observations from the ground...wildfires in WNC.

Natural Crisis 2.0

Is a very surreal feeling to be sitting here writing this from yet another “basecamp” amidst another sobering crisis in Western North Carolina.  The wildfires that began 9 days ago near Saluda, NC (Three separate fires...each named “The Deep Woods”, “Black Cove” and “Fish Hook” fires have now been consolidated under one name...”The Black Cove Fire Complex” are located just north of I-26 above and to the Northeast of Saluda.

If you’ve read many of my other posts over the summer you would have learned a little bit about the Green River Wild Gamelands (where the Upper Green River is located) and Green River Cove (where the Lower Green River is located). This is where these fires are centrally located...right smack in the center of the Green River Gorge.

(Another area that is on fire adjacent to Green River Cove is the forested areas where Cove Creek flows through. This is where the trails to Little Bradley Falls and Big Bradley Falls are located).
Post-Helene you heard me talk about the devastation in and around the Green River and the enormous amount of tree damage there was in these areas.

Much of what is burning is downed trees from Helene...but please note here...the Army Corp of Engineers have been working to remove tons and tons of deadwood in an around the Lower Green River area for the past few weeks...and had this not been done prior to now...I suspect the fires burning down there would be a LOT more intense.

There are residences scattered throughout some of these mountainous areas and Polk County has done an excellent job creating an evolving map showing areas of warning to prepare ahead of time if mandatory evacuations are declared.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the “not knowing” where the fire was moving to next was problematic. It was like knowing there was a storm coming but not being able to view radar to see what direction it was headed.  After a few days, fire management teams recognized this need and implemented this color coded “Evacuation Map”.

You can view this realtime “Evacuation Map” by clicking below.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1usnYrYs6pofyEWfoza7jmsfVU3OZWGs&ll=35.25509241290396%2C-82.36026564076737&z=13

It became pretty obvious to me early on that the fire management teams were learning on the fly just like we were. And many thanks and kudos for their adaptability as we all roll with this...yet another...crisis as it unfolds.

So now...9 days in...we have some valuable resources to use to better prepare and plan for how we need to respond for our own safety.
1- The Polk County Emergency Management “Evacuation Map”
2- Updates viewed at Polk County Management and Saluda Fire and Rescue Facebook pages.
3- fire.airnow.gov online wildfire location map

Once you know what the imminent danger is to your front door step it becomes much easier to make the necessary decisions to stay or to go.

Please note here too...when you’re THIS close to these fires you KNOW they are there. You see the smoke, you smell the smoke, you hear the helicopters and circling planes, you hear the emergency vehicle sirens.  But what you can’t know...is which way these fires are moving.  It’s mountainous terrain...so you cannot actually see the fires unless you’re on a higher mountain top looking down on them or can get a view from the air above them.

According to a press release by Polk County Emergency Management published yesterday (March 26th), over 300 firefighters are working to contain the Black Cove fires. With a heavy emphasis being placed on the I-26 boundary lines (near exit 59) to prevent the spread of fire into additional area.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the Black Cove Complex is the highest priority fire in the Southern U.S. Currently, there are 303 personnel from North Carolina and other states across the nation supporting this incident.

Which brings me to the next amazing subject...air support!  Apparently you cannot have a wildfire the size of this one (currently over 5,000 acres) and not draw attention to the severity of crisis level.
In the first few days of this, a Chinook and Huey helicopter were deployed to provide structure protection and support.  Yesterday, a HUGE DC-10 could be seen circling over the area of these fires. This aircraft can carry up to 12,000 gallons of fire retardant. I’d say...”the big guns” have arrived!

Yesterday afternoon, Polk County Emergency Management published an update to the “Evacuation Map” which included the area where I live. This update put my area in “get ready” status.
Worthy of note...prior to this moment...I’d been living within 2 miles of these fires with all the things...the smoke...the sounds...the announcements of mandatory evacuation areas daily since the 19th. This shift was what pushed me to finish packing up essentials and evacuate to a safer location.

After watching this unfold in realtime...I felt like it was only going to get worse before it got better.
Please note...if you’ve read this far...I’m writing from my own personal experiences. Use only County Emergency Management official statements if you are seeking facts over opinions.

Meanwhile there are other very severe and threatening wildfires in the area. These are the Table Rock Fire and the Persimmon Ridge Fire and both a blaze in South Carolina and now the Persimmon Ridge fire has become threatening to the Cedar Mountain Community in North Carolina.

Bottom line? We need rain!  And to get to the other side of this...please sing and dance every rain producing song you know.

I’ll post some helpful links in the comments for additional details as things continue to unfold here.
God speed. And stay safe everyone!

Photo Credit: MARCH 24, 2025 - Smoke from Polk County wildfires, as seen from Henderson County, North Carolina. (Photo: WLOS Staff see also wlos.com) 

03/23/25 1930: Update regarding wildfires near Saluda, NC.

“It’s time to learn about wildfires,” Mother Nature said.
And just like that...here came a big dose of wildfires right in the back yard of Saluda, NC and some surrounding areas.  Turns out...it’s not just an “out west” thing any more.

As a resident of Saluda and being within two to five miles (as the crow flies) of where there are three active fires burning (currently burning an area of over 4,500 acres) I wanted to share some insights into maybe putting some more meaning into this scenario as it unfolds here in our daily lives.

*Note that these fires have been named the “Deep Woods Fire” (currently over 2,500 acres...on the South side of Green River Cove road), the “Black Cove Fire” (currently over 2,000 acres...on the North side of Green River Cove road) and the “Fish Hook Fire” (currently over 150 acres...on the North side of Lake Adger). The Black Cove Fire is primarily burning in the Green River Wild Gamelands.

Firstly...wild fires don’t move like we are used to experiencing with weather patterns. You know...like left to right on a map...trackable…...North to South...East to West….is pretty easy to learn if you’re in the direct path of a dangerous storm or tornado or a hurricane. It’s easy to know even approximately when you may be in danger...like at what point the storm may pass over your location.

My experience with these wildfires here have been...first you see a post about it’s beginning location by the local authorities...and then at some point you see the smoke from it.  But you have NO IDEA which way its traveling...who’s in danger...what locations are safe.  I learned real quick..I have absolutely ZERO experience with “what to do” in case of wildfire near you.

So what happens is you worry and seek out information. And there just isn’t a lot. Not like a weather event where every channel is broadcasting predictions and warnings are issued and so forth.
Wildfires seem to be more of a living, breathing, threat that shifts and changes moment by moment.

Wildfires don’t burn necessarily in a direction per say. Two sides can be burning in two different directions...or three sides... or all sides...or it may be burning in a line of sorts all in one direction and then it will shift due to wind changes and where the expectorant is more dense (in this case...there’s a WHOLE LOT of downed tree debris left in the forest here from Helene damage so it’s a lot like matchsticks laying everywhere). There’s also hot burning embers flying up into the air and then falling ahead of the fire causing it to grow into a new direction.  I would imagine that it might be described by some as “wack a mole” when it comes to attempting to “put the fire out”.

So containment is the end game. To protect structures where people live. And to backburn in an attempt to keep the fire from spreading so that when the fire reaches that area there’s nothing left there to burn.

Meanwhile...you hear lots of emergency sirens, aircraft (in this case a Chinook and Huey helicopter) dropping water to control the spread, see the smoke billowing into the sky and depending upon how the wind is blowing...air quality gets pretty poor because of the smoke.

I noticed that as the fires spread and residential roadways were being threatened...evacuation orders were issued based upon the direction of spread. Yet there didn’t seem to be a way to know ahead of time who was in danger.  Do you pack up and leave? Is it safe to stay?  Do you need to go? And how do you know when it’s safe to return?

I was scouring Facebook to find as much information as I could about knowing the answers to these questions.  And then...And THEN...I came across THE MOST HELPFUL THING!

It’s like a weather radar for wildfires. Shows you right where they are...and gives you clues as to which way they are moving.  Imagery all provided from satellites passing over.

Fire.airnow.gov  

It’s basically like a google maps but for showing where fires are currently burning all over the U.S.  So to view these particular fires near Saluda, NC... just click on the map and drag it in a direction that will show you North Carolina, then zoom way in.

Using this tool I’m MUCH more comfortable knowing whether I’m in any imminent threat from where these fires move and spread to.

Quite honestly...I’ve been a little shell-shocked from being surrounded by crisis again and again.  (The devastation from Hurricane Helene, then the Melrose wildfire here the first week of March and now these wildfires). Writing about it helps me sort it all out. So if you’ve read this far...thank you for reading along.

The town of Saluda is not currently in imminent danger. But there have been quite a few mandatory evacuations issued in areas that this fire is currently impacting. I'll put a link in the comments that list these streets and roads.

Also note that Saluda Fire and Rescue has declared the hiking trails to Little Bradley Falls and to Big Bradley Falls as closed until further notice.

I hope learning about this fire-watching-tool is as helpful for you as it has been for me.  Now I can sleep at night...and better plan for whether a mandatory evacuation is coming my way.



Photo Credit: Damian Morgan

03/14/25 1815: The Learning Space

I recently came across a video where clinical psychologist, Dr. Becky Kennedy, was guest lecturing at her Alma mater, Duke University. In her lecture to a class called “Learning to Fail” (which is part of the resilience curriculum), Dr. Kennedy talked about the profundity found in what she called, “the learning space.”

According to what she says on this video and to this class, “the learning space” is the space in between knowing and not knowing. The space between being good at something and not being good at something.

You can’t have lived as a human and not know the experiences found within this very space. We all know the moments found here very well.  Such as learning to ride a bike...and the wrecking and the falling and the kicking of tires and skinning of knees before the actual real riding occurs.

According to Dr. Kennedy, there’s one feeling found within this space.

Frustration!

And some people are runners from this feeling because it can be SO VERY uncomfortable.  But I contend...that the most successful people in the world have learned to become resilient here.  Have learned to be comfortable with the frustration...and stay present and work through the discomfort...until the level of familiarity and comfort and knowing is reached.

Naturally, much of the successes here can be attributed to sheer determination and gut fortitude...and sometimes this can be due to the need for survival or just because the end determines the means.

So let’s talk about the space between being good at something and not being good at something.
We can’t get to the “being good at” without being able to tolerate the intense moments found in “not being good at” a thing. And from within that...we have to LET ourselves not be good at something in order to learn something new.

I think we were much better at this as kids. Where nearly everything we do is new to us so we embrace newness like the adventure it is.  Newness was all we knew then. We didn’t have the option of having done a thing for 10 years yet. So we settled into that newness...and explored and tried lots of new things.  Because too...our peers...those in our own age group were also doing the same...navigating the everything-is-new-to-us-landscape.

The longest I’ve worked at the same company was nine years (Rafting in the Smokies). And throughout those nine years I did a plethora of different jobs for that company...so it wasn’t the least bit rutty or stuffed with sameness.  The next longest I’ve worked for the same company was five years (Norfolk Southern Railroad).  The point in my telling you this is...while there have been many times in my life I’ve wondered what it might have been like to work for the same company for 20 or 30 years working my way up (wage increases and promotions and the like) and then retire from the same place.  But this hasn’t been my experience.  I’ve had dozens of different jobs over the years. And my oh my, how this has expanded my outlook on life.

But let me tell you...each time I start a new job...I go through the frustration-laden learning curve of not knowing all the ins and outs of that job.  My math and job experience has made it pretty clear that it takes about one year to get “comfortable” in a new job.  These first months doing a new thing are SO full of vulnerability, discomfort, and on and on.  And much to do with how present you are required to be in each an every task so that you don’t screw it up...because you can’t do it with muscle memory or on auto-pilot yet.  But in the very act of trying new things...oh my gosh...the proving ground and self-soil cultivating experiences that exist there are PRICELESS!

Nature is yet another great teacher when it comes to expanding our comfort zones and challenging ourselves in “the learning space.”  Is why I’ve nearly fallen in love with “creek crossing” experiences while hiking here near the town I currently call home, Saluda, NC just outside of Asheville.

Here you are...hiking along in your confidence...and then you realize the trail continues on the other side of this creek you just came upon. Now you’re required to find a way across. In the warmer months you just take your boots off and walk across. But in the cooler months...finding an alternative (maybe rock hopping or shimmying across a downed tree-bridge) route is a most gloriously challenging experience.  Simply to see if you can do it without getting your feet wet.  I like to call this “the adult playground” moment. Where you see the “monkey bars” that nature has presented and wonder inside if you can tackle the problem presented.

You’ve got to connect with your body mentally and remember what it’s actually capable of.  Balance, coordination, jumping distance, etc.  Then you’ve got to size up your surroundings and estimate whether you’re capable of what you’re asking yourself to do.  It’s a most delightful confidence builder when you get to the other side and say to yourself…“yep...I just did that.”

I’ll mention here too...one way (and there are many) to become comfortable in the “frustration/not knowing space” is to laugh at yourself.  Don’t take yourself so seriously in this space.  

I’d like to become an expert at staying in the learning space...and not being so hard on myself for “not knowing” some things.  And one of the best ways I know to challenge what you do know...is to put yourself in situations that you’ve never been in before.

I’m still learning and I’m no expert.  But the only way I know to become an expert at something...is to do that something over and over and over and over again.

So I want to take a moment and thank the Facebook algorithms for bringing the Dr. Becky Kennedy across my path. I now have a WHOLE NEW view on the value that exists within the experience of frustration from within “the learning space.”

Photo Credit: Image by ichimi from Pixabay