Newsletter #144-C: Aug, 2017
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
EVACUATION NEWSLETTER – Part III
“Returning Home”
Hi everyone,
This is a milestone newsletter. Not only is it the 144th monthly photographic newsletter without missing a single month (that’s twelve years), it’s a 3-part “Evacuation Special” newsletter. Share it with your friends. Enjoy!
On Saturday, July 15th, I said goodbye to my wonderful cabin on Lac La Hache and headed south to my third evacuation home. We begin this visual story where I left off in Newsletter #144-B – Part II.
This is the last part of my evacuation story before being allowed home. Having a hobby such as photography provided me with a wonderful and creative outlet during this homeless and stressful time. I value my camera as a friend.
Our goal at the Chris Harris Gallery is to share photographic adventures and inspire others in the creative process. Please share this Newsletter with friends. We appreciate your interest and continued support for my work.
Contents:
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Evacuation: On the road again
On July 15, nine days after the fire started, I woke up with a strong feeling to get in my vehicle and leave my cozy retreat on Lac La Hache. Smoke covered the lake, breathing was becoming more difficult, and the possibility of being evacuated further north was an increasing possibility. I packed my few belongings into the car, with the idea of heading south. I did not want to go further north.
Blockade at Lac La Hache
I immediately ran into a roadblock. Highway 97 south was closed and 100 Mile House was evacuated. After a long chat with the officer, explaining how I ‘needed’ to get to North Vancouver to see my niece, I found myself with a private police escort through 100 Mile House.
Police escort past 105 Mile
Passing 105 Mile was difficult. I wanted to escape my convoy and get to my house just up the road, but instead, hoping the cop wouldn’t notice, I made this image as I drove by. As you can see, a raven was circling my highway Gallery sign as if it was saying, ‘don’t worry, I’ve got you’re place covered’. Although the smoke was thick, I could see that fire had not reached where we lived. Feeling relieved, I drove on. I thanked the police officer for the escort, joined highway 24, and then drove to the Lower Mainland.
2. Reuniting with family in North Vancouver
Welcomed by my niece
My niece, Karen Wrinkle, an Upledger Certified Craniosacral Therapist and licensed massage therapist, welcomed me into her home.
Karen’s tiny garden
It was a special place for her and her son Chris, so using my camera, I tried to paint it as if it were a ‘Monet’ garden.
Karen remains grounded to the natural world, even though her business has her living and working in the city. Every day she walks amidst the tall cedars, hemlocks, and firs of Capilano River Reginal Park. She took me there, and every day we walked and talked about my art of photography and her art of healing.
Karen leads me along her favourite trails
Fishing. People from all walks of life seemed to come here to connect with nature after their day at work in a hectic urban environment
As always, I tried to activate the paint brush hidden in my camera.
Reflections
Towering trees in a magical forest
Karen and I spent a wonderful time reconnecting. She even gave me a few sessions where her craniosacral knowledge and gentle hands erased the tension I had developed in my stiff neck. Thank you Karen for sharing your energy and home.
3. Duggan and I reunite with Rita and return Home
Once again, it was time to leave. Firefighters were beginning to contain the fire around 100 Mile House and we were sensing the evacuation order would soon be lifted. Rita made her way south and I made my way north; we reunited in Kamloops for the first time in 15 days. By this time, we had officially heard our home was safe; we were excited to get home.
What a welcoming sight to see our home and gallery buildings in tact
Rita, Duggan, and I, relish an emotional walk to our home.
Thanks to the often heroic efforts of so many people, most homes in our immediate area were saved. Those of us who had homes to return to are incredibly thankful and grateful. Those two emotions will remain with us, always.
A smoky sunset that night was a reminder that fires were still a threat and much work still had to be done to remain safe
4. The Aftermath
Not all of us were so fortunate. Many, including personal friends of ours, returned to find unimaginable destruction. (made with permission from Judy Turnbull)
In my next Newsletter, I will share my visual and emotional experience of visiting a home that was lost.
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Chris, we’re so impressed that you continue to push the envelope with your photographic explorations. That you for keeping the artistic inspiration alive!
Dave and Rosemary
Thank you. I’m having fun!!
Great newsletters.
Many thanks!
Thanks for the update Chris, another chapter behind you and another one starts
Stay well
Bill
Thank you Bill!
So pleased to hear you are all safe. We can only hope the fire danger is over. Love your newsletters and thank you
Thank you Nancy. Best wished to you on the other side of the country!
I am seeing my favorite old haunts through your lens. Never been to Fir Crest yet passed it all the time when we had our cabin on other side of lake. Now because we no longer have our cabin we will stay at Fir Crest in future. Love the photos and have used the fish lens many times. Thank goodness your art photos are safe and thank you for the writings of fire.
Thank you Dee. Please say hi to the Ragan’s when you visit Fir Crest! They will look after you well!
So good to hear your place is safe, Chris & Rita, and yourselves, too!
I was backpacking the Stein Traverse the last eight days and kept a close eye on the skye all the while, hoping you and another friend of mine in Ashcroft would escape the mayhem. All of you did.
While I was deep inside the wilderness, perfectly incommunicado, my mother died, serenely in bed at age 95. I heard the news on Sunday night, so I’m off to Holland in a few days. The ‘whiplash of life’ has hit, all of us, in very different ways. Be well you both, and be in love,
Mariken
Thank you and we WILL be in Love!!
Artistic, considerate and thoughtful. Well done again Chris!
Pat
Thank you Pat. Having fun!
Oh, Chris, this has been the most profound sets of pix ever, of any photog., your sharing, your confession of distress, the BEAUTY you pulled with your camera techniques, making paintings out of scenes, reclaiming your huge belief in BEAUTY and the HEALING of HOME. I am isolated in my home in Vernon this day, breathing smoke is not wise for me with Laryngospasm (YouTube calls it Sudden Terrifying Inability to Breathe). Imagine you are lying back in the dental chair and some water touches a cord and WHAM, the cords shut tight, an entire panicked staff while I w a i t, and go as calm as I possibly can, w a i t, then as if sucking on a straw try to get tiny tiny sips of air, s l o w l y the cords relax. The good news is, since 1999 I have had to fly to Van. Pacific Voice Clinic for treatment, 26 trips were in tiny planes thanks to Hope Air volunteer pilots, and I have wonderful images via my Canon Rebel. So I have to guard my cords. That’s good, I take care of myself in every way. I keep 6 outlets here in Vernon supplied with scenic photos on cards. Another twist of fate is the development of a pinched nerve in my left hip, from too much sitting at the computer. I try to work standing up as much as I can, it seems those books won’t get written, and that is OK, I’d rather be out scouting for more images anyway. See my Facebook page Leila Ward for image collections. BE SAFE, we need you for a long time.
Hi Leila. Thank you for your story. I did look at your page and I happy to see you are enjoying life with your camera. It’s a wonderful hobby. All the very best to you…stay creative!
Such talent, a wonderful depiction of the forest fires of the past few weeks.
Thank you Leona!
Thanks for the articulate updates and excellent images. Just very happy for you and Rita that your home and gallery have been spared. It will be wonderful to see all of BC’s wildfires contained and eradicated and hopefully no more homes lost and especially no lives lost.
Thank you Ernie. A few have been lost for sure but it could have been a whole lot worse. We have been spared…so far at least.
Chris you have lived a charmed life. While others evacuees slept in cots in gymnasiums you
stayed in a lake front lodge. You have been very fortunate to be living a life that others only
enjoy each year in short vacations. So its great to hear that you and Rita also your dog are
safe from this terrible wild fire situation we have had this summer.
Hi Ron and Betty. I feel very blessed and am aware of that fact every day I live. That is why I try and give to others as much as I can through my photography. Hoping you are both well and enjoying an active summer.
Great thanks for your quiet heroism and ingenuity Chris. Welcome Home! Stay watchful and safe!
Thank you Ron and June. I hope you are both doing well and enjoying the sunny days of summer. We are both doing well in the Cariboo!
All three parts of this newsletter, the text and the images, have been incredibly moving. We also live surrounded by forest. The experiences of so many people in the Cariboo could have been or might be ours.
Anne & Bob
Great to hear from you Bob and Anne, and thank you for connecting. Appreciated. We are both doing well. Hoping you all the best for the rest of the summer.
Dearest Chris
I have waited to reply until your part 3 newsletter arrived.
Although we were in contact everyday during your most stressfull evacuation – when I received your newsletters and amazing images – I was so very moved, emotional, and humbled. It certainly brought tears to my eyes.
I am thinking of all those who lost everything – my heart goes out to them.
Wonderful to see photo of you, Rita & Duggan returning home. What an emotional moment.
much love to you, Rita & of course, Duggan!
much love and special thoughts.
your loving ‘sis’, Janie xx
A big thank you Jane for your all your support and ideas on what to pack. You reminded me of several things I had totally forgotten about!! It’s hard to think rationally in times like that. I thought I was calm but maybe I wasn’t! Duggan, Rita, and Duggan send our love. We are happy at home!
Hi,Chris,thank goodness your place was ok!
often passed by and saw your sign along the highway.
Great photo and story with your newsletter.
It seems so sureal here in Prince Rupert as we had only 6 sunny days last month.
our friends in Williams lake apparently stayed put down at the seaplane base and toughed it out.
I so do enjoy your part of the country so much!
sure hope that this fire season is an anomoly and not a consitant worry.
The road blockages also made it hard for folks going in and out of the Chilcotin and Bella Coola.
wish there was a safe way to allow folks to transit.apparently the Aussies have a system in place which allows a little more movement for local people.
cheers,
Evan Spellman
Thank you Evan. I felt the same way in Vancouver as you did in Prince Rupert. Life was going on as always and people had no way of comprehending what was happening in the Cariboo and Chilcotin. It made me want to get home to help in some way. Cheers!
Chris, thank you so much for helping us to see what you have seen through your eyes as you witnessed the catastrophic “Complex of Fires” that took up so much of our mutual awareness during the past 26-27 days and nights. You gave beauty to terror; this is why we need artists in our midst!
Thank you for seeing the value of artists in our society. They have played a huge role throughput history. I don’t claim to be one but I do try and share what I do see in the hope that it is an inspiration in some way to others. Thank you.
beautiful stunningly insightful exquisite, telling photography. when I got to the part of you and your wife with your beloved canine, returning home, I felt so buzzed with sudden rushing of energy alive. an intensity of emotional overwhelm of a mixed kind. I am sure it is a lingering hint of what the journey all must have been like. Thank you –from South Western Ontario, of whom has a big chunk of heart in the wilds of BC.
Thank you Deborah…all the way to Ontario! Appreciated.
Thank you for all the information and for much more than that – the feeling, the tension and the transformation of the sometimes hard reality into art. I am glad that I visited you in your gallery together with Sigridh last autumn, to see everything safe now and I hope to come back in the near future. All the best to you and your family and friends.
Thank you Annette. We look forward to seeing you!
What great fun to be in your newsletter! What a pleasure, and ‘silver lining’, it was to have you and Duggan come and stay with me. The reconnection was replenishing and inspirational! What a sacred place you hold when you stand and ‘witness’ the intensity of mother nature and the grief, fear, lose, sadness, awe, appreciation, anxiety and love that so many are feeling. In your expression and sharing of this ‘fire experience’, you help us all connect to what makes us all ‘the same’ and help us recognize that we are all a part of the grace of humanity. We are not alone. Thank you connecting us. xx
It was wonderful to share my evacuation experience with you in your cozy North Vancouver home and on our walks among the giant coastal firs. Thank you so much for sharing.
Oh and I LOVE my Monet garden! Wow! You have enchanted it with your magic camera brush strokes!!!
How wonderful to share your Monet garden with you!! I loved it!
So glad your personal saga had a happy ending.
Thank you Frank!