I went out to Bastrop this weekend to drop off the first load of donated supplies from my class' Toy and Book Drive. My sister, who lives in Bastrop, is the PTO President for Emile Elementary School, one of two schools hardest hit by the Labor Day fires. We went to drop off the donations at the school and after we had unloaded everything, my sister asked if I wanted to drive by Lost Pines State Park. It looked like this at one time...
(This shot is of the opposite side of the highway where the fire did not jump...)
"No", I said, honestly. I am not one who likes to look at devastation or roadside accidents. My imagination is far too vivid... but my sister with pain in her voice begged me to witness what has happened to her beloved park. We still couldn't drive through the park itself, even after two weeks, because there were still fires popping up and they wanted no one to be hurt so she drove around the outskirts of Lost Pines and on the highway. I guess I thought that there would be nothing left, just charred earth laid flat by the fires.
But instead there were blackened skeletons of leafless trees lifting their fire ravaged arms into the sky.
Seeing this beautiful state park where we once laughed and enjoyed the beauty of many Texas summer days look like this was painful. My chest constricted and I worked hard to keep the tears out of my voice, but in the end there was nothing we could do but cry as we drove on.
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