Location Taken: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
Time Taken: June 2010
Writing yesterday’s post about the Sunshine Mine disaster took far more of myself that I would have otherwise expected.
I’d just been planning on writing a short bit on it, the brief mentions I usually do, but first I knew I had to research. So I started hunting up websites and articles and radio clips and videos…
Several hours later, the story was still gripping me. It demanded to be told in full, and it demanded that I understand it, as much as I could.
I tried to get my mind into those who lived through it, feel just a glimmer of what they felt, so I could tell the tale right. And I managed that glimmer of true understanding, and it shook me. One of the most terrifying times I have lived was walking in a perfectly safe cave with just a line of flickering lanterns to show the way, the unknown closing in around me. One of my deepest fears is fire, stealing away all I know and love. And this was both.
I wrote, carefully choosing words, trying to bring across that feeling, so others could know. I edited far more that I have ever done, shaving off slivers of imperfection.
And when I was done, I was empty. Barren as a field of fresh lava, my mind seared, just a little. But like the lava, things will grow, all the stronger for their burning. And whatever forms, it will be beautiful.
