Call It a Rebound

Tully Rohrer

May 21st, 2008

I said I’d do it sometime in the future, so here it is. This is four images of the same spot in Swain’s Canyon - the magnificent backdrop for our campus. The first picture is just a portion of a snapshot I took one week after the fire ravaged the canyon. At that time, I hadn’t yet been asked to take on the project of documenting the stages of succession. The next three, however, are all from the same exact spot looking northwest, as specified by our program director. So they don’t exactly match up, but if you look, you can see the same broad slope just left of bottom center.

Pretty amazing, eh? It’s been quite magical to see the hills transform back to green… but now it’s May, the rain’s been absent for months, and the canyon is turning back to brown. Who says southern California doesn’t have seasons?

That fire will remain one of the most memorable experiences of my life for a long time. The song I mentioned on Monday captures the unrelenting shock and bewilderment that comes with watching a fire take away your job, your home, your life. That whole spectrum of emotions comes to me when I think of watching the flames and smoke from a few miles down the coast… and we didn’t end up losing anything important. Nothing. Not a single important item. That’s quite a testament to the incredible power of fire, and to the complete helplessness of watching 30 foot flames encroach on your home. Then imagine all the people that have lost everything to fire…

Song of the Day: Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires

Interesting series. Are you going to continue the project?

StefanJune 17th, 2008

Just wanted to let you know that this photo series was the inspiration for my work for an art competition. Excellent idea.

-Emily — May 3rd, 2010

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