Burning World

reality in four parts

by Mary Ann Schaefer
© 2009
Part 1.
Your paper. Your news. dailycamera.com

Camera
Thursday, January 8, 2009

Thousands Flee Fire

• 11,500 homes evacuated
• 1,000 acres burned
• Six structures damaged
• Three people slightly injured

… Wednesday’s fire was caused by

power lines that were downed in high
winds, according to the Boulder County
Sheriff’s Office and the intense flames
weakened some poles that are still
standing. More high winds could knock
over those damaged poles, said
Sherriff’s Office Cmdr. Phil West.
“We’re just not sure what is going to
happen, so we don’t’ want to put
anybody in harm’s way at this point,” he
said….

photo by Paul Aiken

Part 2.

wild 7wjld8
adj.
5ME wilde < OE, akin to Ger wild, prob. < IE base *wel-, shaggy hair, unkempt > WOOL,
VOLE16

not easily restrained or regulated; not controlled or controllable; unruly, rough, lawless, etc.
!wild children"
in a state of intense excitement; specif., a) eager or enthusiastic, as with desire or anticipation
!wild with delight" b) angered, frenzied, frantic, crazed, etc. !wild with desperation"

fire 7fjr8
n.
5ME fyr < OE, akin to Ger feuer < IE base *pewbr- > Gr pyra, PYRE, Czech pA!, glowing
embers6

The ancient Greeks considered fire one of the major elements in the universe, alongside water,
earth and air. This grouping makes intuitive sense: You can feel fire, just like you can feel earth,
water and air. You can also see it and smell it, and you can move it from place to place.

But fire is really something completely different. Earth, water and air are all forms of matter -- they
are made up of millions and millions of atoms collected together. Fire isn't matter at all. It's a
visible, tangible side effect of matter changing form -- it's one part of a chemical reaction.

(from http://www.howstuffworks.com/fire.htm)

whyyyyy-LLLLLD
fyyyyy-RRRR
wildfire = uncontrollable + air + heat + fuel
2a. Un-con-trol -lable ´
We're restricting the list to terms we think are related to uncontrollable, and sorting by
relatedness.
1. dipsomania 26. rampant 51. haemophiliac 76. milk sickness
2. ungovernable 27. stitch 52. hellion 77. naughty
3. indocile 28. uproarious 53. hematophilia 78. pulper
4. irrepressible 29. wildfire 54. hemophile 79. rebellious
5. uncontrollability 30. tarantism 55. hemophiliac 80. riot
6. uncontrollably 31. narcolepsy 56. inflame 81. wild
7. uncorrectable 32. bleeder 57. logorrhea 82. mischief
8. unmanageable 33. chorea 58. lycosa tarentula 83. violent
9. unruly 34. cold 59. mad
10. convulsion 35. dipsomaniac 60. malignant
11. hysteria 36. hysteric 61. manic episode
12. oniomania 37. obstreperous 62. narcoleptic
13. coprolalia 38. acting out 63. nymphomania
14. hysterical 39. amygdalotomy 64. palsied
15. incontrollable 40. attack 65. paroxysmal
16. palsy 41. cocaine addiction 66. paupueo
17. paroxysm 42. contingent 67. satyr
18. pyromania 43. driven 68. satyriasis
19. cacoethes 44. error 69. shake
20. enuresis 45. european wolf 70. sob
21. haemophilia spider 71. tarantula
22. hysterics 46. fascinate 72. wildly
23. kleptomania 47. fibrillation 73. amok
24. logorrhoea 48. fit 74. automated
25. rambunctious 49. ground loop dialogue replacement
50. haemophile 75. frantic

(from http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml)
2b.
Chapter 16: Mountain Windstorms
(from Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies (CIRES) website:
http://cires.colorado.edu/~higginsm/atoc1050/ch16/chapter16.pdf)

In the above diagram, the lines are streamlines, representing flow over the mountain.
Winds are very strong where streamlines are close together.

The combination of an inversion upstream and the mountain created strong winds
accelerating down the mountain.
2c. Why Sparks Fly
When two objects that have opposite charges get near each other, the electrical field pulls
them together.

What actually happens is that the negatively charged (-) electrons are attracted to the
atoms in the other material that have an excess positive (+) charge. Things are much more
stable if all the atoms have an equal number of (+) and (-) charges.

Strong forces hold electrons

The reason the electrons can't leave their present material is because of strong molecular
forces that keep them where they are. If there are enough positive (+) charges attracting
them, and the distance is not too great, some of the electrons will break loose and
fly across the gap to the (+) side.

Once it starts
Once a few electrons start to move across the gap, they heat up the air, such that more
and more will jump across the gap. This heats the air even more. It all happens very fast,
and the air gets so hot that it glows for a short time. That is a spark.

(from http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static.htm)

2d. Fuel

If you are living in winter and you are a grass or a shrub, if your body has
become narrow and dry and brown and you lie exposed on southern hillsides that
lean out toward the endless plains, you are thought to be lifeless at least in form,

and then deep inside the dream of warmth, temperatures rise and rise even more
as the cellulose of your existence begins to decompose, you become smoldering
gases, hotter and still hotter until you are combustion, molecules exploding in a
chain reaction generating heat and light and ash

and then you burn.

Part 3.
Acts of god: An event that directly and exclusively results from the occurrence of
natural causes that could not have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or
caution; an inevitable accident.

Courts have recognized various events as acts of God—tornadoes, earthquakes,

death, extraordinarily high tides, violent winds, and floods. Many insurance
policies for property damage exclude from their protection damage caused by
acts of God.

(from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/act+of+God)

PRAYER TO THE MEXICAN GOD OF FIRE

(A victim is sacrificed for rain in the temple of the Earth Fire—a crater of a volcano)

Victim
"IN THE Hall of Flame let me not put to shame my ancestors; descending there let me
not put you to shame! I fasten a rope to the sacred tree. I twist it in eight folds, that by it,
I, a magician, may descend to the magical house."

Priests
"Begin your song in the Hall of Flames! Begin your song in the Hall of Flames!"

Devotees
"Why does not the magician come forth? Why does he not rise up?"

Priests
"Let his subjects assist in the Hall of Flames! He appears! He appears! Let his subjects
assist!" Let his servants never cease the song of the Hall of Flames--let them rejoice
greatly--let them dance wonderfully!

(To the victim)

Call ye for the Woman with Abundant Hair, whose care is the Mist and the Rain; call ye
for Her!"

(from http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/ppr/ppr28.htm)
Part 4.
Beginning Tai Chi – Element Form

first I come home to self, knees flexing, lowering center of

gravity, shoulders falling and arms floating up to heart
level, drawing from earth, sinking down again, exhale.
exhale.

now I am spreading arms wide, circling up and then down,

stoking, collecting the fire from my hips in my hands,
forward and up releasing sparks to sky.

arms lowering now like wings folding into shoulders then

widening, circling, open embrace as arms
arms around a tree
trunk.

with elbows creased and dropping, wrists now crossing

across the beating chest, fingers stretch up and flicker
across the face, a tiger’s whiskers.

at last each hand separates and swims synchronous to

forward extent, palms facing
facing out, lowering slowly from
chest toward ground, now I return to mountain.