One year after the flames

Songs have been written, books published, videos produced, and stories told.  Reporters and media outlets have covered every angle of the event, its aftermath, and the community that has a new sense of time that includes phrases like "before the fire" and "after the fire".  The anniversary of the fire that drove all of us from our homes is coming up in just over a month.  The municipality has announced  a low-key dawn to dusk gathering at Snye Park to commemorate the anniversary.

A lot of mindfulness went into the selection of the language and the structure of what to do on May 3rd.  Snye Park and its beautiful great lawn will be a perfect place to gather with friends and neighbours and get through the day together.

May 3rd is not going to be easy.  Whether we like it or not, it will bring back many memories of our day that "will live in infamy".  Many are still struggling with the psychological after effects of the stress, fear, terror, confusion, and pain wrought by the wildfire.  Lots of families are still waiting for homes to be rebuilt, insurance to get settled, and contracts to get signed with builders.  Others that didn't have insurance have started over, rebuilding their lives from ground zero.

With each story, with each conversation about those crazy hours and days in May 2016, new memories and moments emerge - small details of a day and time when the world fell off its axis.  I'm certain that more will pop up in the weeks ahead and when the community spends time together at Snye Park.

This is the schedule of what is planned:

5 am to 9 am - Community breakfast accompanied by wellness activities such as sunrise meditation and yoga
9 am to 5 pm - Community-driven arts, recreation, leisure and spiritual activities
5 pm to 9 pm - Community barbecue and informal activities including local artists, acoustic performances and games

You can also click here to read the municipality communication that came out yesterday.

I'll be there doing something arts related.  Maybe I'll host a workshop or two.  Maybe I will just hang out and paint.  I will figure it out, but I know that I'm going to want to be there.  Snye Park is literally a block and a half from Birdsong Studio.