Our Colorado December is not snow filled, it is smoke filled. The scenic backdrop of the iconic Flatirons is overshadowed today by a horrific scene of fire. Boulder County is burning. 30,000 people have been evacuated. 1,600 acres consisting of homes, restaurants, schools, hospitals, and mom-and-pop shops are gone. Boulder County is seeing fire in the sky, not of the campfire variety with folks smiling and getting high. But rather a brutal fire, ravaging dry grasses, propelled by wind, engulfing neighborhoods with smoke and ashes.
The wind is relentless, forcing flames to unroll at high speeds across massive areas. The images out of Boulder, Superior, and Louisville here in Colorado are devastating…neighborhoods burning to the ground as the Marshall and Middle Fork fires burn in the middle of a raging pandemic. Our soul and our psyche can only take so much.
Flames against the night sky are tearing through homes filled with holiday hope – now filled with ash and smoke. Suburban streets just a day ago were luminous with holiday lights, are now lit by embers of an eerie fiery glow.
We must pull together through this Colorado – we are all connected. Toxic political winds are pushing the flames of hate in our nation, dividing families, making science an enemy, and pitting neighbor against neighbor. Fire and hate need oxygen to grow. We cannot control nature’s wind, yet we can do something about our nation’s hate. We cannot give hate oxygen – we cannot allow the fire of hate to spread.
When a home is engulfed in flames, no one asks the political affiliation of its inhabitants, people act to be of service, trying like hell to put out the fire. Our democracy is on the verge of being engulfed in flames and we must put out the fire now. The Constitution is not made of fire retardant material, if we do not stop the visible smoke and flames poised to engulf our republic and burn it down – democracy will be destroyed – no more America.
The wind is bellowing today in Colorado. A powerful wail that knocked down power lines creating roaring flames. No political party can control the wind like a Party tries to control voting rights, by suppressing voter impact or deny voting power be heard, wind is not political – the wind will be heard, our votes may not.
Colorado is collectively crying out today at the massive loss for our fellow Coloradans in Boulder, Superior, and Louisville. Whether one is a transplant or native to the Centennial state – we are all Coloradans.
Let’s be there for each other.