There’s a big part of my identity that I don’t speak on often. While most know me as a city girl (LA born and raised), I actually spent most of the summers of my childhood and adolescence on a rural working ranch in Granby, Colorado called C Lazy U. My parents loved it so much they built a home there, and we’ve been part of the ranch for over 20 years now.
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I started working on this when we first heard that the #EastTroublesomeFire was a threat to the county. I wanted to try to rectify the idilic pastoral memories of my childhood with sheer helplessness and despair I felt every time we got an update. How could humans have so much abundance and beauty, and let this happen? For all the hope and miracles nature brings us, how could the world feel so empty? Why do I have to say goodbye to the past? I don’t want to.
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On Saturday, my parents packed up their valuable things and the animals, and evacuated early - fearing the worst. Shortly after, all 200+ horses were also evacuated from the ranch, and most families packed up and followed suit. And then on Wednesday, the doom feelings grew as smoke crept over our meadow. By night time, the smoke over our meadow turned to flames, and we watched the house become surrounded by fire, smoke and embers. And then the cameras turned off....
I won’t speculate on the damage to our home, our friends and neighbor’s homes, the ranch, or the county. It’s still too dangerous to even begin to assess, but I fear so much of it is completely gone. The fire is still burning, and today’s weather conditions don’t bode well / / / I can’t tie a nice bow around this. I don’t know what’s going to happen next or what will still be standing. This place holds the happiest and healthiest memories of my family. I hope some of it remains. We will cherish this in our hearts forever.
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I have more to say that I couldn’t fit here, so please check my twitter to read the rest.
/ / / 2500 x 2500, rendered in RedShift with hand painted details, exclusively on Super Rare.
